Tribological behaviour of graphite powders at nano- and macroscopic scales

Abstract

With its high resistance, good hardness and electrical conductibility in the basal plans, graphite is used for many years in various tribological fields such as seals, bearings or electrical motor brushes, and also for applications needing excellent lubrication and wearreducing properties. But thanks to its low density, graphite is at the moment destined for technologies which need a reducing of the weight combined with an enhancement of the efficiency, as it is the case in aeronautical industry. In this contexte, the friction and wear of natural (named graphite A) and synthetic (called graphites B and C) powders were evaluated, first at the macroscopic scale when sliding against steel counterfaces, under various applied normal loads. Scanning Electron Microscopy and AFM in tapping mode were used to observe the morphological modifications of the graphites. It is noticed that an enlargement of the applied normal load leads to an increase of the friction coefficient for graphites A and C; but for the graphite B, it seems that a ‘‘limit’’ load can induce a complete change of the tribological behaviour. At the same time, the nano-friction properties of these powders were evaluated by AFM measurements in contact mode, at different contact loads. As it was the case at the macroscopic scale, an increase of the nano-contact load induces higher friction coefficients. The determining of the friction and wear mechanisms of the graphite powders, as a function of both their intrinsic characteristics and the applied normal load, is then possible.