| Alumina-graphite composites, which combine high wear resistance and self-lubricity, are a potential and promising candidate for advanced tribological applications. The processing, mechanical properties and tribology of alumina-graphite composites are discussed.; Full density is difficult to achieve by a pressureless sintering route. Porosity of the composites increases with graphite content which causes the strength, modulus of elasticity, and hardness of the composites to decrease. The increased porosity does cause the fracture toughness to slightly increases.; Tribology of alumina-graphite composites was studied with a pin-on-disk tribometer with emphasis on the following aspects: the graphite content in both pin and disk, the graphite flake size and the orientation of the graphite flakes. Scan electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction are utilized to examine and characterize the wear debris and the worn surface. Results confirmed that it is necessary to optimize the structure and the supply of lubricant to improve the tribological behavior and that the arrangements of sliding couples also affect the tribology of self-lubricated ceramic composites.; Continuous measurements of the friction coefficients were collected at high frequency in an attempt to correlate the tribology of alumina-graphite composites to vibrations introduced by friction. While these measurements indicate that the time frequency behavior of tribology is an important area of study, conclusions regarding the frequency response of different sliding couples could not be definitively stated. Finally, a new concept connecting instantaneous wear coefficient and instantaneous contact stress is proposed for prediction of wear behavior of brittle materials. |
