Effect of Electrical Current on the Tribological Behavior of the Cu-WS_2-G Composites in Air and Vacuum

As the traditional graphite-based composites cannot meet the requirement of rapid developing modern industry, novel sliding electrical contact materials with high self-lubricating performance in multiple environments are eagerly required. Herein a copper-based composite with WS2 and graphite as solid lubricant are fabricated by powder metallurgy hot-pressed method. The friction and wear behaviors of the composites with and without current are investigated under the condition with sliding velocity of 10 m/s and normal load of 2.5N/cm 2 in both air and vacuum. Morphologies of the worn surfaces are observed by optical microscope and compositions of the lubricating films are analyzed by XPS. Surface profile curves and roughness of the worn surfaces are obtained by 2205 surface profiler. The results of wear tests show that the friction coefficient and wear volume loss of the composites with current are greater than that without current in both air and vacuum due to the adverse effects of electrical current which damaged the lubricating film partially and roughed the worn surfaces. XPS results demonstrate that the lubricating film formed in air is composed of oxides of Cu, WS2 , elemental S and graphite, while the lubricating film formed in vacuum is composed of Cu, WS2 and graphite. Because of the synergetic lubricating action of oxides of Cu, WS2 and graphite, the composites show low friction coefficient and wear volume loss in air condition. Owing to the fact that graphite loses its lubricity which makes WS2 become the only lubricant, severe adhesive and abrasive wear occur and result in a high value of wear rate in vacuum condition. The formation of the lubricating film on the contact interface between the brush and ring is one of the factors which can greatly affect the wear performance of the brushes. The low contact voltage drop of the composites in vacuum condition is attributed to the high content of Cu in the surface film. This study fabricated a kind of new sliding electrical contact self-lubricating composite with dual-lubricant which can work well in both air and vacuum environments and provides a comprehensive analysis on the lubrication mechanisms of the composite.

Influence of adding carbon nanotubes and graphite to Ag-MoS_2 composites on the electrical sliding wear properties

Silver matrix composite brushes were fabricated by means of powder metallurgy, which included pressing at 300 MPa and then sintering for 1 h in pure H2 protective atmosphere at 700 ℃ and repressing at 500 MPa. Four kinds composites with different compositions were produced, and the mechanical properties and electrical wear performance were investigated. The results showed that the composite added with carbon nanotubes had a higher hardness and strength, a lower contact voltage drop and an excellent anti-wear property in electrical sliding wear, because of the reinforcement ability of carbon nanotubes. Adding graphite to the composite also decreased the wear loss and contact voltage drop, because graphite had an electrical current conducting ability which not only made the current pass the lubricating films easily but also eliminated and reduced the arc and spark effectively.

Effect of La_2O_3 on electrical friction and wear properties of Cu-graphite composites

Sliding friction and wear experiments using Cu-La2O3-graphite composites against Cu-5 wt.%Ag alloy ring were conducted at a constant sliding speed of 10 m/s, a current density of 10 A/cm2 and a load of 2.5 N/cm2. These composites with different La2O3 and graphite contents were fabricated by hot-pressing. Physical and mechanical properties of the composites were examined. Morphologies of the worn surface of composites were observed using optical microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra were used to study compositions of the lubricating film. The results showed that with the increasing addition of La2O3, hardness, flexural strength and electrical resistivity increased, but the relative density dropped. The friction coefficient increased with the increasing addition of La2O3. Composite containing 3 vol.% of La2O3 and 37 vol.% of graphite showed the best wear resistance. The main wear mechanisms of composites were abrasive wear, oxidative wear and adhesive wear.