Tribological Performance of Medical Grade UHMWPE Polymer at Egg Albumen Lubricated Condition

In this experimental study, the friction and wear performance of medical grade UHMWPE polymer under egg albumen lubrication condition are evaluated. The sliding experiments were carried out on a pin-on-disc wear tester. The contact configuration used was a polymer pin on a rotating stainless steel disc. Tests conditions were 2000m travelling distance, room temperature, 40 to 120N load and 0.5 m/s sliding speed. The results show that the coefficient of friction and specific wear rate increase with the increase in load and speed values. The coefficient of friction of UHMWPE under egg albumen 20g/l lubricant conditions is lower than that of under egg albumen 10g/l lubricant conditions. Moreover, for the range of load and speed values of this study the specific wear rate using egg albumen lubricant registered lower values than that of the dry conditions. Finally the specific wear rate values for medical grade UHMWPE polymer at egg albumen lubricant conditions are at the order levels of 0.5x10 -14 m 2 /N respectively.