Abstract:
Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) has been widely used due to its wear resistance, hydrolysis resistance, tear resistance, bending resistance and other characteristics. As a sole material, the most prominent problem is the lack of skid resistance. In this study, high vinyl solution polymerized styrene butadiene rubber (HVSSBR) was blended with TPU to improve the skid resistance of TPU materials. The LAT-100 machine was used to test the changes of friction coefficients of TPU/HVSSBR composites with different blending ratios on dry or wet surfaces and at different ice surface temperatures (−20, −10 and −5 ℃) under constant surface pressure. The results showed that the incorporation of HVSSBR phases can improve the dry friction coefficients
fD, wet friction coefficients
fW and ice friction coefficients
fI of TPU. In which the
fD,
fW of TPU/HVSSBR=60/40 increased respectively by 35% and 13%, and the
fI at different ice surface temperatures (−20, −10 and −5 ℃) increased respectively by 59%, 89% and 116%. Also, combined with the tribological theory, the skid-resistant mechanism under different interface conditions of the composites was analyzed by fitting the
fD,
fW,
fI with the influence parameters of loss factor tan
δ and hardness
H. It was found that
fD,
fW,
fI had a linear positive correlation with tan
δ/H, the correlation was: wet friction > ice friction > dry friction. It indicated that the mechanism of wet friction and ice friction conformed to the adhesion friction model, and the dry friction was the result of the joint action of adhesion friction and hysteresis friction.