Effect of addition SiC particles on the hardness and dry sliding wear of the copper-graphite composite

Abstract EN

This research have been devoted to copper-graphite particulate composites which have high thermal / electrical conductivities and excellent dry lubrication for solid contacts and sliding that arise from a synergetic composite effect between copper and graphite.

They have been widely used in their engineering application for sliding components, such as electrical brushes and bearing .This research is devoted to study the effect of addition of SiC particles at different weight percentage(1 %, 1.5 % , 2 % and 2.5 % ), to the copper graphite composite as matrix, which consist of (90 wt % copper–10 wt % graphite), on the resistance wear under dry sliding condition by using pin-on-disk technique and hardness, the structure produced by powder metallurgy methods (P / M).

The results showed that the composite material reinforced with SiC particles has wear rate lower than that of the base composite where, the wear rate of the base composite is (2.58 × 10-7), which is become (0.6 × 10-7) after addition of SiC at (2.5 wt % SiC), and the results of hardness for the base composite are (25, 7.61) in Vickers test and Brinell test which respectively become (60, 44) after addition of (2.5 wt % SiC)