Investigation into the friction and wear behaviour of polymer coated steel

In the packaging industry, polymer coated steel is used to produce cans and other containers. One of the limitations that can limit production rates is scuffing. Scuffing is local failure of the polymer coating. To understand the failure behaviour of this type of sheet coating, cans have been produced at a range of processing speeds and tribological tests have been performed on polymer coated steel. Linear friction tests were performed under various contact pressures and tool temperatures (20-195 °C). Scuffing generated by the tests were investigated using 3D topography measurements of the surfaces. Several parameters (coating, pressure and temperature) and their interaction determines the frictional and wear behaviour of the polymer. Temperature is a key parameter governing the coating wear phenomena. Surface measurements indicate that similar coating failure defects can be observed in both the linear friction test and in industrial-scale can making. The tests proved that polymer coatings can resist relatively high contact pressure conditions and temperatures. This makes polymer coated steel sheets applicable for a large range of packaging products.