Abstract: The wear behavior of polyamide 6 (PA6)/nanoAl2O3 composites in the elevator operating condition was investigated using MMW1A friction testing. The interactive mechanism between PA6 and nanoAl2O3 was discussed. It was found that with increasing wearing time, friction coefficient of PA6/nanoAl2O3 composites experienced a rapidly increasing, subsequent decreasing and then level off. With increasing content of nanoAl2O3, friction coefficient and wear volume of PA6/nano-Al2O3 composites firstly decreased then increased. When the loading of nanometer Al2O3 was 4 %, the improvement of antiwear behavior was the most significant, with friction coefficient and wear volume 23.5 % and 84.3 % lower than neat PA6, respectively. Wear behavior of PA6/nano-Al2O3 composites was associated with nanoAl2O3 content. The main wear mechanism of neat PA6 was abrasive wear and adhesive wear. With increasing nanoAl2O3 content, the abrasive wear part first increased, then decreased; while adhesion wear first decreased and then increased.

Key words: polyamide 6, nano-alumina, composite, elevator shoe lining, wear behavior