Aspects regarding the tribological evaluation of sintered composites obtained from mixture of copper with carbon fibers

Abstract

This paper presents a study of the tribological properties of sintered composite materials made from combination of copper with short carbon fibers. Sintered composite materials are more effective if refer to specific properties per unit volume compared to conventional isotropic materials. Potential advantages of copper - carbon composite materials are: high resistance to breakage and high value ratios strength/density; resistance to high temperatures; low density and high resistance to wear; low or high friction coefficient. The sintered composite materials used in this research work are obtained combining different percentages of copper with short carbon fibres with iron and lead in order to investigate the variation of the friction behaviour. Varying the percentage of copper from 92,2% to 97,6% and the percentage of short carbon fibres from 7,8% to 2,4%, five different composite materials are obtained and tested. Friction tests are carried out, at room temperature, in dry conditions, on a pin-on-disc machine. The friction coefficient was measured using abrasive discs made from steel 4340 having the average hardness of 40 HRC, and sliding velocity of 0,6 m/sec. The main objective of this research work it was to identify a combination of materials with improved friction behaviour. The experimental results revealed that the force applied on the specimen during the tests, is playing a very important role regarding friction coefficient and also the wearing speed. Graphite particles are conveyed consistently inside the net, enhancing scraped spot safety and voltage drop over normal composite material. The static tests demonstrated that this new kind of sintered composite material has preferable electrical execution over previous brush material in the same conditions, and the element tests demonstrated that the temperature climb is not enormous when the brush with this new composite material is exchanged on with huge current and the surface scraped spot is littler amid sliding. The new method of obtained sintered composites, using high-energy and high speed is adequate for production of tribological parts.