TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF POLYURETHANE UNDER DRILLING FLUID AND BRINE
The polymeric materials are widely used in the petroleum industry. Such as, some packers are made of polymeric material (rubber barrel), and tensioner rubber pads for seabed pipeline construction. The polyurethane has superior mechanical properties, high flexibility, resilience and good viscoelastic behaviour. Also, its tribological properties are excellent. At present, there are few studies about the tribological behavior of polyurethane in drilling fluid or brine. In this paper, the tribological behavior of polyurethane sliding against steel in drilling fluid and brine were studied using a multifunction friction wear testing machine. The worn surfaces were examined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM).