Effect of short carbon fiber on thermal, mechanical and tribological behavior of phenolic-based brake friction materials

Abstract

The phenolic-based brake friction composites containing 0, 1, 2 and 4 vol% carbon fiber were fabricated in this study. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed the adverse impact of carbon fiber on the thermal stability of the composites under air atmosphere. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the uncured samples indicated the positive impact of carbon fiber on the crosslink density of the phenolic resin. Viscoelastic results drawn from the dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA) suggested that inclusion of carbon fiber increased the storage modulus and decreased the damping factor of the frictional composites. The tribological behavior of the specimens was assessed with a chase type friction tester. Both the friction coefficient and specific wear rate decreased with enhancing carbon fiber content. Furthermore, carbon fiber deteriorated the fade behavior of the developed composites. The TGA, DSC and DMA results were used to justify and interpret the observed tribological behavior.