Effect of Physical Properties of Three Typical Ship Bearing Composite Materials on Tribological Properties

The tribological properties of ship bearing liner composite materials often accompany by the tensile, tearing, peeling, and temperature rising phenomena of the materials between the micro/nano contact interfaces, and the physical properties have great influences on their tribological properties. To investigate the effects of typical physical properties of the tribological properties of three typical ship bearing composite materials (Plastic, Thordon and Lignum Vita), the tensile strength, tear strength, heat distortion temperature and contact angle of the composite materials were determined. A RTEC commercial tribo-tester was used to study the wear behaviors. The wear surfaces and wear rates were analyzed and compared further using confocal laser scanning miacropy(CLSM) and scanning electrical microscopy(SEM). The results show that Thordon material had good wear resistance due to the excellent tear strength and tensile strength as well as high heat distortion temperature. Lignum vitae with excellent hydrophilicity had very low initial friction coefficient under water lubrication conditions. This study provided guidance for selecting and designing of ship bearing composite friction pairs.