Investigation of Friction Coefficient of Various Polymers Used in Rapid Prototyping Technologies with Different Settings of 3D Printing

This paper deals with the research of friction coefficient in tribopairs made of the polymers that are the most commonly used in rapid prototyping technologies. Parts manufactured with the use of a 3D printer with different settings of printing were chosen as samples for the experimental research. Friction coefficient and the temperature in the contact area during the runtime were measured using a universal friction machine MTU-1. The machine allows us to carry out tribological experiments using different contact schemes with or without lubricants. For this research, the scheme "plate-on-plate" was chosen. No lubricants were used. Wear of the samples was estimated after the experiments. Analysis of the experimental data has shown that changing of 3D printing settings has significant influence not only on the strength and stiffness of the parts, but also on the quality of the surface that affects the tribological properties of the tribopairs. The results of this research allow us to choose optimal settings for 3D printing depending on the required tribological properties of the parts, such as friction coefficient and wear.