Tribological, Kinetic, Thermal and Flow Characteristics of PPS and PEEK Retaining Rings

Retaining rings, with two designs, made of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and polyetheretherketone (PEEK), were subjected to wear tests to quantify their tribological, kinetic, thermal and flow characteristics. White light interferometry was used to precisely measure local wear rates. Additionally, a series of data including shear force, down force, coefficient of friction (COF) and pad surface temperature were captured in-situ using an Araca APD 500 polisher. The PEEK rings were also subjected to residence time distribution (RTD) tests at various pressures, slurry flow rates and sliding velocities. Based on the open-system reactor design theory, the mean residence time (MRT) was extracted from the corresponding coefficient of friction (COF) vs. polish time curves.