The wet braking and recovery behaviors of the P/M pad mated with C/C–SiC disc for high-speed trains

Abstract

C/C–SiC ceramic is a promising braking material in high-speed trains. The research on wet braking is necessary for its application. In this paper, braking tests of C/C–SiC disc mated with powder metallic (P/M) pads were conducted under dry, wet and recovery braking conditions at initial braking speed (IBS) of 14, 22, 33, 44, 55 m/s. Coefficient of friction (COF) and surface morphologies under different conditions were discussed: The instantaneous COF under wet condition was lower but the instantaneous COF curves became smoother than those under dry condition. The difference between two conditions went smaller as IBS increased. Under recovery condition, it cost 33 stops at 14 m/s to recover to 93.1% of the origin COF. Meanwhile, 8 stops were needed at 55 m/s, and the recovery rate was 98.9%. When the IBS increased, the number of the stop needed was fewer and the recovery rate was higher. The surface morphologies further showed the braking under wet condition resulted in a smoother surface with less ploughing grooves and the disappearance of the friction film. Under the recovery condition, the surface became rough again with grooves and the friction film formed again. The results indicate that the wear debris were washed away by the sprayed water and the formation of friction film was inhibited. In addition, water film subsequently lubricated the friction surface, which reduced COF at low IBS. As IBS increased, high temperature accelerated the dewatering and evaporation of water and thus lead to the decrement of the COF difference between wet and dry friction which, in turn accelerated the recovery process.