Effect of Cu addition on the braking performance of Fe–Si alloy-modified C/C–SiC brake materials

Full-carbon/ceramic brake pairs have been recently proposed to achieve profound applications of C/C–SiC brake materials in brake systems with a high-energy load. Severe wear rate and a high and unstable coefficient of friction (COF) of the traditional C/C–SiC disc-pads pairs prevented further development of this material. In this study, FeSi75 alloy and Cu were mixed to form an infiltration agent to modify the C/C–SiC composites. We examined the braking performance of the Fe–Si–Cu modified C/C–SiC brake pads mated with traditional needled C/C–SiC brake disc using a lab-scale dynamometer. The results revealed that the Fe–Si–Cu blending modification yielded a significant wear reduction of the brake disc and pads. After a series of braking tests, the worn surface morphology was characterized, and the wear resistance improvement mechanism was analyzed.