Efficiently measuring and differentiating wear in polymer-polymer tribological systems presents a significant challenge due to the simultaneous material loss of both counterparts. Historically, research in this area has focused on metal-polymer contacts, as distinguishing individual wear contributions in fully polymeric systems has remained difficult.
Our research group has developed a method for in-situ wear differentiation in polymer-polymer systems using a line laser scanner to record the shape of the wearing components in a ball-prism tribometer. This data is used to calculate the wear volume of the ball during measurement, enabling differentiation between ball and prism wear. Initially, high noise levels made it unfeasible to apply this approach in real-world applications. However, further modifications to the technique reduced measurement noise by over 90%, allowing precise differentiation of wear on both the ball and prism. To enhance measurement speed, the method was expanded to assess five material combinations simultaneously. This advancement provides a way to track and differentiate the wear of polymer-polymer counterparts over time, even when both materials exhibit significant wear.
Our results demonstrate that the modified method delivers accurate, reproducible data, making it a valuable tool for future tribological research in fields such as 3D-printed non-assembly mechanisms, seals, biomedical devices, and polymer-based bearing technology.
The presentation will summarize the original method, the introduced modifications, and the resulting improvements in measurement accuracy, offering new insights into polymer-polymer tribological systems where both counterparts undergo simultaneous wear.