Reduced wear damage of carbon brushes via transfer layer upon W/Cu composite

ABSTRACT

An ultrafine (∼100 nm) W particle-reinforced Cu matrix composite was fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The tribological properties of the fabricated W/Cu composite were tested by pin-on-disc sliding experiments and compared with those of brass alloy. The wear rate of the carbon brush when sliding against the W/Cu composite (0.102 mm ³s⁻¹) was much lower than that with brass (4.83 mm³ s⁻¹). Simultaneously, the W/Cu composite possessed higher conductivities and greater surface hardness than brass. The surface roughness of the W/Cu composite was found to play a critical role in improving the robustness of the tribofilm and reducing the volume loss of the carbon brush. The W/Cu composite has promising engineering applications for the long-term wear protection of self-lubricating materials.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-lubricant materials
• carbon brush
• W/Cu composite
• ultrafine particles
• surface roughness
• wear reduction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China under Grant 2014GB117000.