Wear property of high-resistivity carbon brushes made with and without MoS2 in variable humidity

Four kinds of high-resistivity carbon brushes with MoS2 contents of 0%, 2%, 4% and 6% (mass fraction) were prepared, respectively. Wear tests of brushes were conducted on an alternate current(AC) motor. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis(EDS) were used to analyze the worn surface of brushes, and a thermocouple was used to measure the bulk temperature of the brush. The results show that wear rate of brush made without MoS2 in 10% relative humidity(RH) is two times larger than that in 50% RH, whereas the wear rates change little for the brushes made with MoS2. The wear of brushes has much to do with the surface film. In low humidity, the surface film can not be formed for the former brush while a sulfur layer can be formed for the latter brushes, which can reduce sparks, frictional heat and wear rate, and play a role like the water film in high humidity.