Effect of Polymer Ether Ketone Fibers on the Tribological Properties of Resin-Based Friction Materials

Abstract

Resin-based friction materials (RBFM) are widely used in the fields of automobiles, agriculture machinery and engineering machinery, and they are vital for safe and stable operation. In this paper, polymer ether ketone (PEEK) fibers were added to RBFM to enhance its tribological properties. Specimens were fabricated by wet granulation and hot-pressing. The relationship between intelligent reinforcement PEEK fibers and tribological behaviors was investigated by a JF150F-II constant-speed tester according to GB/T 5763-2008, and the worn surface morphology was observed using an EVO-18 scanning electron microscope. The results showed that PEEK fibers can efficiently enhance the tribological properties of RBFM. A specimen with 6 ωt% PEEK fibers obtained the optimal tribological performance, the fade ratio was −6.2%, which was much higher than that of the specimen without the addition of PEEK fibers, the recovery ratio was 108.59% and the wear rate was the lowest, which was 1.497 × 10−7 cm3/(Nm)−1. The reason for the enhancing tribological performance was that, on the one hand, PEEK fibers have a high strength and modulus which can enhance the specimens at lower temperatures; on the other hand, molten PEEK at high temperatures can also promote the formation of secondary plateaus, which are beneficial for friction. The results in this paper can lay a foundation for future studies on intelligent RBFM.

Evaluation of the Mechanical and Tribological Behavior of Polyether Ether Ketone Fiber-Reinforced Resin-Based Friction Materials Fabricated by Wet Granulation

“…In this temperature range, the bonding strength between phenolic resin binder and other reinforcement composition was weakened, which resulted from the thermal degradation of phenolic resin matrix [ 37 , 38 ], thus significantly reducing the shearing strength [ 2 ]. In addition, the glass transition of PEEK fiber also occurred in this temperature range [ 25 ], which would also cause an increscent SWR. Figure 10 b showed the sum of SWR at each temperature.…”

“…The main fabrication steps of RBFMs were step mixing, wet granulation, hot pressing, and heat treatment [ 21 , 25 ]. The fabrication process is shown in Figure 2 .…”

“…Thirdly, the prefabricated particles were pressed for 10 min at 160 °C under 45 MPa for hot pressing [ 25 ]; the pressing device was a hot compression machine (JFY50, Wangda, Changchun, China). During hot pressing, three intermittent ‘breathings’ were conducted to release volatiles.…”

“…Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) fiber can reduce abrasion and improve the mechanical strength of RBFMs because of their high strength and self-lubrication [ 24 , 25 ]. Furthermore, PEEK will stay molten at high temperatures (more than 343 °C) and can adhere to wear debris to decrease abrasion [ 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Furthermore, PEEK will stay molten at high temperatures (more than 343 °C) and can adhere to wear debris to decrease abrasion [ 26 , 27 , 28 ]. The adherent wear debris will form a secondary plateau under normal pressure, thus protecting RBFMs and enhancing wear resistance [ 25 ]. The characteristics of PEEK fiber provide a good reference for the design of RBFMs.…”