Patricia Perdiz Fernandez, Miguel Angel Molano Niampira, Felipe Salcedo Galán, Felipe Álvarez Torres
Papers # 2014 Chicago
Abrasion resistance is the ability of a material to withstand mechanical action such as rubbing, scraping, or erosion. Such ability helps to maintain the material's original appearance, structure and mechanical properties. It’s a decisive factor in the selection of materials for their use in mining pipe. Abrasive effect of solid particles in mining slurries can significantly decrease the average service life of a pipeline. The extent of the problem depends on the type, size and concentration of the solid in the slurry, frequency with which the solid is in contact with the pipe, velocity of the flow, and the material type of the pipe among others.
Cross-linking consists of connecting the different polymer chains through carbon-carbon bonds, which directly link adjacent chains; the making of a three-dimensional structure improves the mechanical and thermal performance of the resin.
A two-stage cross-linking process was developed using an initiator to verify if this molecular modification created an improvement in the abrasion resistance of a high density polyethylene resin.
A phenomenon of competition between the three-dimensional structure formed as a result of cross-linking and a decrease in the degree of crystallization of the material was observed with increasing initiator content. This behavior induced property changes in the material, which resulted in an abrasion resistance improvement of up to 58% at low initiator contents when tested at extreme loading and friction conditions¸ using abrading wheels to simulate the wear associated with the collision of solid particles on the surface of the pipe.
