Microstructure and Tribological Performance of Mesocarbon Microbead-Silicon Carbide Composites

Xiaojie Wang; Xiumin Yao; Hui Zhang; Xuejian Liu; Zhengren Huang

doi:10.3390/ma12193127

Microstructure and Tribological Performance of Mesocarbon Microbead-Silicon Carbide Composites

Materials (Basel). 2019 Sep 25;12(19):3127. doi: 10.3390/ma12193127.

Authors

Xiaojie Wang^{1

2

3}, Xiumin Yao⁴, Hui Zhang⁵, Xuejian Liu⁶, Zhengren Huang^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Structural Ceramics Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 201899, China. wangxj1@shanghaitech.edu.cn.
² School of Physical Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University, Shanghai 201210, China. wangxj1@shanghaitech.edu.cn.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. wangxj1@shanghaitech.edu.cn.
⁴ Structural Ceramics Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 201899, China. xmyao@mail.sic.ac.cn.
⁵ Structural Ceramics Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 201899, China. zhanghui@mail.sic.ac.cn.
⁶ Structural Ceramics Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 201899, China. xjliu@mail.sic.ac.cn.
⁷ Structural Ceramics Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 201899, China. zhrhuang@mail.sic.ac.cn.
⁸ School of Physical Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University, Shanghai 201210, China. zhrhuang@mail.sic.ac.cn.

Abstract

Mesocarbon microbead-silicon carbide (MCMB-SiC) composites with 0-30 wt % MCMBs were prepared by pressureless sintering (PLS) method at 2200 °C in Ar. The microstructure and tribological properties of the prepared composites were investigated. The results show that there was a finer grain size of SiC with the increase in MCMB content because MCMBs hinder the growth of SiC grains. The hardness of the composites decreased with increasing MCMB content, whereas the fracture toughness fluctuated showing a complex trend. The tribological properties of the composites under dry friction conditions were evaluated using the pin-on-disk method against a SiC counterpart. We found that the tribological properties of the samples were influenced by the oxide film or lubricating film that formed during the wear process on wear surfaces. Different wear mechanisms were found to be associated with differing MCMB contents.

Keywords: MCMB–SiC composites; microstructure; tribological properties; wear mechanism.

Grants and funding

No. 17ZR1434500/Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai