Effect of carbon fiber addition on the tribological properties of polyoxymethylene composites

Abstract This study focuses on the effect of carbon fibers (CFs) addition on the tribological properties of both polyoxymethylene (POM) and POM/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) blends. Two kinds of CFs with different fiber length (i.e., 40 μm and 1 mm) were compared. Results showed that the addition of longer CFs could effectively reduce the wear rate of pure POM and POM/PTFE composites. Both high P × V friction coefficient and mass wear rate of POM/PTFE particle/CF composites were significantly reduced when compared with the POM/PTFE particle counterparts, which is related to the easier formation of transfer film on the sliding countersurface and better load transfer of CFs. This study provides a new perspective for improving the tribological properties of engineering plastics by tailoring the geometry of functional fillers.