Comparison of friction and wear performances of brake material dry sliding against two aluminum matrix composites reinforced with different SiC particles

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the friction and wear behavior of the same brake materials dry sliding against two different brake drums made of aluminum matrix composite reinforced with different sizes (3.5 and 34 μm) of 25 vol.% SiC particles (SiCp), respectively, in place of the conventional cast iron brake drum for a Chase Machine. It has been found that the brake material against the latter showed better friction performances and wear resistance than those against the former associated with small-size SiCp pullout and thin tribofilm formation. In both cases, the friction coefficient decreased with the increase of load and speed, and converged gradually at two temperatures of 177 and 316 °C. Friction fade took place at high temperatures, followed by excellent recovery upon cooling. Also, the specific wear rate did with the increase of load and speed, but increased with temperature.