Effect of braking speed on friction and wear behaviors of C/C-SiC composites

C/C-SiC composites were fabricated by the reaction melt infiltration method. Braking tests were carried out on an MM-1000 test machine simulating airplane braking. The friction and wear behaviors of C/C-SiC composites at different braking speeds were investigated. The experimental results show that the coefficient of friction increases to the maximum value of 0.52 at 10 m/s and then falls afterwards with the increase of braking speed. The wear rate remains low at low braking speeds and increases linearly with the increase of the braking speed, which demonstrates that the C/C-SiC composites have excellent wear resistance in comparison with C/C composites. Due to the high braking energy, ploughs appear on the friction surface and a large amount of spherical wear debris forms; therefore, the coefficient of friction decreases sharply when the braking speed exceeds 20 m/s.