Tribological performance of selective laser sintered pa12 sliding bearings under dry sliding conditions

The increasing demand for maintenance-free and energy-efficient machine parts has driven interest in additively manufactured polymer sliding bearings, yet their behavior under real conditions remains insufficiently explored. This paper systematically evaluates the dry-sliding performance of PA12 bearings produced by selective laser sintering (SLS). The bearings were experimantaly evaluated under three distinct pressure-velocity regimes (0.25-1.0 MPa?m?s??) on a custom radial-load test rig to measure the coefficient of friction (COF) and contact temperature. Surface morphology before and after testing was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to analyze wear-induced changes. After a short running-in phase, the COF stabilized between 0.092 and 0.117 (? ? 0.0003), while contact temperatures ranged from 42 to 92?C-below the Vicat softening point of 175?C. The results confirm that SLS-fabricated PA12 bearings can operate reliably without lubrication when PV conditions are properly selected.