Understanding the influence of contact pressure on the wear performance of HDPE/multi-dimensional carbon filler based hybrid polymer nanocomposites

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) exhibits good mechanical properties but poor resistance to wear which impedes its application in low load bearing industrial components. The current work is focused to understand the influence of contact pressure on the tribological performance of multidimensional carbon based filled HDPE hybrid nanocomposite. The novelty of the work lies in an in-depth investigation of the contact pressure which is observed to influence the wear performance of HDPE based composites and hybrids. The nanofillers of different dimensions; Nano-diamond (ND)-0D, Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT)-1D and Graphite Nanoplatelets (GNP)-2D were chosen as reinforcements. The individual role of nanofillers and its response to the contact pressure and the prominent wear mechanisms exhibited thereof were studied in detail. 0.1 GNP/ND was noted to exhibit least contact pressure with highest wear resistance and the dictum was exonerated with Tan delta similar to 0.5 confirming its damping abilities thereby pronouncing more wear resistance. The presence of ND in HDPE had strongly influenced the wear performance and it was analyzed based on electron affinity hypothesis. It was concluded that correlating contact pressure with wear volume, and related wear mechanisms of polymeric materials would be a novel contribution in the relevant field.