Microstructure and Tribological Performance of Mesocarbon Microbead–Silicon Carbide Composites

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.

Temperature-mediated tribological characteristics of 40CrNiMoA steel and Inconel 718 alloy during sliding against Si3N4 counterparts

“…where ΔV is the wear volume loss in mm 3 , S is the sliding distance in m, and F is the load in N. The volume loss ΔV 1 of the sample was acquired by Eq. 2,…”

“…A series of problems occur simultaneously between frictional contacts, such as abrasion, plastic deformation, and fatigue [1]. During high-temperature friction, oxides preferentially form on the worn surface [2], and their thicknesses play a pivotal role in tribological performance [3]. If the tribochemically grown oxide layer behaves effectively, it can deliver the desired lubricity between the rubbing contacts at elevated temperatures [4].…”

Effect of Graphitization Degree of Mesocarbon Microbeads (MCMBs) on the Microstructure and Properties of MCMB-SiC Composites

“…Saeed Safi et al [ 30 , 31 ] used the liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) method to fabricate MCMB-SiC composites with high flexural strength and good ablation resistance. Wang et al [ 32 , 33 ] prepared MCMB-SiC composites with 0–30 wt.% MCMBs by the pressureless sintering (PLS) method at 2200 °C and studied the sliding tribological properties of dense MCMB-SiC composites with 30 wt.% MCMBs against the self-mated counterparts, WC and SSiC. It is noteworthy that there are various types of commercially available MCMBs.…”

Preparation and Characterization of Mesocarbon Microbeads by the Co-Polycondensation of High-Temperature Coal Tar Pitch and Coal Pyrolytic Extracts

“…Mesocarbon microbeads (MCMBs) are recognized as a kind of soft carbon with good sphericity, uniform particle size distribution, ease of graphitization, and other special properties [ 1 ]. MCMBs are accepted as a suitable precursor widely applied in a lithium-ion battery [ 1 , 2 ], lithium-ion supercapacitor [ 3 ], Li-S battery [ 4 ], sodium-ion battery [ 5 ], MCMB–SiC composite ceramic [ 6 ], solid acid catalyst [ 7 ], photocatalyst [ 8 ], and so on. In other words, MCMBs are one of the most important functional artificial carbon materials widely used in the metallurgy industry, chemical industry, aerospace industry, energy storage, and catalysis [ 9 ].…”