Influence of Weave Structures on the Tribological Properties of Hybrid Kevlar/PTFE Fabric Composites

The existing research of the woven fabric self-lubricating liner mainly focus on the tribological performance improvements and the service life raised by changing different fiber type combinations, adding additive modification, and performing fiber surface modification. As fabric composites, the weave structures play an important role in the mechanical and tribological performances of the liners. However, hardly any literature is available on the friction and wear behavior of such composites with different weave structures. In this paper, three weave structures （plain, twill 1/3 and satin 8/5） of hybrid Kevlar/PTFE fabric composites are selected and pin-on-flat linear reciprocating wear studies are done on a CETR tester under different pressures and different frequencies. The relationship between the tensile strength and the wear performance are studied. The morphologies of the worn surfaces under the typical test conditions are analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The analysis results show that at 10 MPa, satin 8/5 performs the best in friction-reduction and antiwear performance, and plain is the worst. At 30 MPa, however, the antiwear performance is reversed and satin 8/5 does not even complete the 2 h wear test at 16 Hz. There is no clear evidence proving that the tensile strength has an influence on the wear performance. So the different tribological performance of the three weave structures of fabric composites may be attributed to the different PTFE proportions in the fabric surface and the different wear mechanisms. The fabric composites are divided into three regions： the lubrication region, the reinforced region and the bonding region. The major mechanisms are fatigue wear and the shear effects of the friction force in the lubrication region. In the reinforced region fiber-matrix de-bonding and fiber breakage are involved. The proposed research proposes a regional wear model and further indicates the wear process and the wear mechanism of fabric composites.

Woven fabric triboelectric nanogenerators for human-computer interaction and physical health monitoring

Triboelectric nanogenerator(TENG)converts mechanical energy into valuable electrical energy,offering a solution for future energy needs.As an indispensable part of TENG,textile TENG(T-TENG)has incredible advantages in harvesting biomechanical energy and physiological signal monitoring.However,the application of T-TENG is restricted,partly because the fabric structure parameter and structure on T-TENG performance have not been fully exploited.This study comprehensively investigates the effect of weaving structure on fabric TENGs(F-TENGs)for direct-weaving yarn TENGs and post-coating fabric TENGs.For direct-weaving F-TENGs,a single-yarn TENG(Y-TENG)with a core-sheath structure is fabricated using conductive yarn as the core layer yarn and polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE)filaments as the sheath yarn.Twelve fabrics with five different sets of parameters were designed and investigated.For post-coating F-TENGs,fabrics with weaving structures of plain,twill,satin,and reinforced twill were fabricated and coated with conductive silver paint.Overall,the twill F-TENGs have the best electrical outputs,followed by the satin F-TENGs and plain weave F-TENGs.Besides,the increase of the Y-TENG gap spacing was demonstrated to improve the electrical output performance.Moreover,T-TENGs are demonstrated for human-computer interaction and self-powered real-time monitoring.This systematic work provides guidance for the future T-TENG’s design.