Effects of Mixing the Steel and Carbon Fibers on the Friction and Wear Properties of a PMC Friction Material

Friction, fade and wear characteristics of a PMC friction material containing phenolic resin, short carbon fiber, graphite, quartz, barite and steel fiber were investigated through using a small-scale friction testing machine. Four different friction materials with different relative amounts of the carbon fiber and steel fiber were manufactured and tested. Comparing with our previous work which contained only steel fiber as reinforcement, friction characteristics such as fade and recovery and wear resistance were improved significantly by adding a small amount of carbon fiber. For the mixing of carbon and steel fiber, the best frictional and wear behavior was observed with sample containing 4 weight percentage carbon fiber. Worn surface of this specimen was observed by optical microscopy. Results showed that carbon fibers played a significant role in the formation of friction film, which was closely related to the friction performance. The brake pad with Steel fibers in our previous work, showed low friction coefficient and high wear rate. In addition, a friction film was formed on the surface with a relatively poor quality. In contrast, the samples with mixing the steel and carbon fiber generated a stable friction film on the pad surface, which provided excellent friction stability with less wear.