Investigation of Tribological Properties of Friction Pairs Duralumin – Fluoropolymer Used for Design and Manufacturing of Biomechatronic Devices

This paper deals with the processes occurring on the surfaces of materials during the interaction between metal and non-metal parts of various biomechatronic devices, such as prostheses, orthoses and exoskeletons. These mechatronic systems require careful selection of materials for design and manufacturing of their parts taking into consideration not only mechanical properties of the materials, but also their tribological characteristics. Friction pairs duralumin – fluoropolymer and stainless steel 100CrMn6 – fluoropolymer were chosen for the research as the samples. Experimental research was carried out with the use of the universal friction machine MTU-1. For this research, the scheme “plate-onplate” was used without lubricants. Friction torque, friction coefficient and the temperature in the contact area versus the runtime were obtained as a result of the experiments. Furthermore, estimation of wear of contacting samples was performed. Analysis of the results allowed us to choose suitable materials for design and manufacturing of orthoses, prostheses and exoskeletons. © 2017 Published by Faculty of Engineering Corresponding author: Pavel Kovalenko ITMO University, Kronverksky pr. 49, 197101 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. E-mail: kovalenko_p.p@mail.ru