SEM, AFM and LFM Study of the Worn Surface of C/C Composites with Smooth Lamination and Rough Lamination/Resin Carbon Matrixes

Abstract

The tribological behavior of C/C composite with smooth lamination (SL) and rough lamination/resin carbon (RL/RC) matrixes was tested using M2000 wear tester and the worn surface morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Lateral Force Microscopy (LFM) methods. It is found that the worn surface of SL exhibits rough friction film and large worn particles with diameters about 300 nm and with leaning-angles around 30 °. Comparatively, the worn surface of RL/RC achieves smooth friction film and is full of small particles with the grain size about 100 nm and with leaning-angles about 10 °. It is demonstrated that RL/RC exhibits a high density of 1.86 g/cm3, high graphitization degree of 67 %, and extensively low hardness of HRF 42. Those superior properties contribute to the close friction force of different components and excellent tribological behavior.