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Purpose: Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is adopted in water-lubricated bearings for its excellent performance. This paper aims to investigate the tribological properties of UHMWPE with a molecular weight of 10.2 million (g mol‐1) under different molding temperatures. Design/methodology/approach: The UHMWPE samples were prepared by mold pressing under constant pressure and different molding temperatures (140°C, 160°C, 180°C, 200°C, 220°C). The friction and wear tests in water were conducted at the RTEC tribo-tester. Findings: The friction coefficient and wear loss decreased first and rose later with the increasing molding temperature. The minimums of the friction coefficient and wear loss were found at the molding temperatures of 200°C. At low melting temperatures, the UHMWPE molecular chains could not unwrap thoroughly, leading to greater abrasive wear. On the other hand, high melting temperatures will cause the UHMWPE molecular chains to break up and decompose. The optimal molding temperatures for UHMWPE were found to be 200°C. Originality/value: Findings are of great significance for the design of water-lubricated UHMWPE bearings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A quasiclassical trajectory study with the fourth-order explicit symplectic algorithm for the atmospheric reaction has been performed by employing a new analytical fit of ab initio electronic structure calculations for the ground potential energy surface reported by Sayós et al. The effect of the relative translational energy, the vibrational energy and rotational energy of O2 molecule on the reaction probability and the reaction cross-section has been analyzed in details. The microscopic rate constant and the thermal rate constant have also been evaluated at the low translational temperature, and results have been compared with the experimental data and previous theoretical values. It is concluded that the thermal rate constants at the low temperature considered in this work agree well with the recommended experimental data and are very close to the variational transition state theory values carried out by Sayós et al. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]