Comparison of braking behaviors between iron- and copper-based powder metallurgy brake pads that used for C/C–SiC disc

Powder metallurgy (PM) brake pads with stable friction behavior are one of the ideal choices for the counterparts of C/C–SiC brake disc that are expected to be applied to the future high-speed trains. In this study, iron- and copper-based PM pads were used to mating with the C/C–SiC brake disc. After testing the brake pairs using a lab-scale dynamometer, the C/C–SiC disc generated almost no wear loss. The coefficient of friction of the carbon/ceramic disc-PM pads brake pair varied nearly between 0.35 and 0.6 under different braking conditions. The analysis of friction surface indicated that the wear mechanism of Fe-based PM pads was mainly dominated by abrasion, while that of Cu-based pair mainly relied on adhesion and fatigue peeling.