Tribological behavior and applications of carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composites as high-performance frictional materials

Due to the favorable tribological, mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties, carbon fiber reinforced ceramic composites, especially carbon fiber reinforced carbon and silicon carbide dual matrix composites (C/C-SiC), has been considered as high-performance frictional materials. In this paper, current applications and recent progress on tribological behavior of C/C-SiC composites are reviewed. The factors affecting the friction and wear properties, including the content of silicon carbide and carbon matrix, carbon fiber preform architecture, as well as the matrix modification by alloy additives and C/C-SiC composites under various test conditions are reviewed. Furthermore, based on the current status of researches, prospect of several technically available solutions for low-cost manufacturing C/C-SiC composites is also proposed.