Effect of heat treatment temperature on sliding wear behaviour of C/C-Cu composites under electric current

Using 2.5-dimensional carbon fibre fabric as the reinforcement, carbon/carbon-copper (C/C-Cu) composites were prepared by a combination of impregnation-carbonisation (I/C) with furan resin and melt Cu alloy infiltration under pressure. The effect of heat treatment temperature for porous carbon/carbon composites (C/C substrates) on the structure and sliding wear behaviour of C/C-Cu composites under an electric current was investigated. The results show that heat treatment temperature has great influence on the structure, graphitisation degree and sliding wear behaviour of C/C-Cu composites. With the increase of heat treatment temperature, wear rates of C/C-Cu composites decrease first and then increase. The composites treated at 2573 K have the lowest wear rates of 36.60 mm/10,000 km and 22.80 g/10,000 km, which is about half of those of Cu-graphite composites now used in high-speed railways. In addition, the main wear mechanisms were abrasive wear and arc erosion.