Effects of the surface processing on the tribological performance of C/SiCs under dry friction

Abstract

A new friction counterpart for carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide ceramic-matrix composites (C/SiCs) and zirconia (ZrO2) toughened by magnesia ceramics is proposed. The effects of the C/SiC surface processing parameters friction on the tribological performance are investigated under dry friction and ambient temperature conditions. The wear tests are carried out using the pin-on-disc friction method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on an instrument equipped with an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) is used to observe the surfaces of the pins and discs before and after the application of friction to reveal the wear mechanism. The results show that surface processing influenced the tribological properties of C/SiC significantly. When the pressure is 30 N, the speed is 0.5 m/s, and the C/SiC surface is ground using 1500# sandpaper, the counterpart tribological performance is the best among the samples considered herein. It is found that the retention ability of the counterparts influenced the tribology performance significantly.