Tribological Property of C/C-SiC Composites Fabricated by Isothermal Chemical Vapor Infiltration

Abstract

Four kinds of C/C-SiC composites were fabricated by isothermal chemical vapor infiltration (ICVI), and the 2.5D needle-punching carbon felt was taken as the preform. The volume fraction of carbon fiber in felt is 30%. The density of C/C-SiC composites is similar (1.87-1.91 g/cm3), while the weight ratio of SiC is decreased from 56% to 15%. The microstructure and phase composition of C/C-SiC composites were observed by SEM and XRD respectively. Friction and wear behavior of the C/C-SiC composites were investigated with the MM-1000 friction machine. The results show that the average macro hardness of matrix is decreased from 98.2HRA to 65.1HRA with the decrease of SiC content from 56% to 15%, and uniformity of hardness distribution is significantly decreased. Finally, by the analysis of microtopography of friction surface and wear debris, it is found that the superficial hardness has an obvious influence on mechanism of wear during braking process. The wear mechanism of the C/C-SiC composites transforms from grain wear to the combination of grain wear and adherent wear with the decrease of surface hardness. At the same time, the average friction coefficient and mass wear rate is increased obviously during breaking process.

Keywords

• ICVI
• C/C-SiC composites
• friction and wear property