Tribological behavior of copper-iron particles as third body additives on copper matrix composites: Experiment link third body morphology to accommodation mechanism

The relationship between copper-iron third body composition, friction coefficient (COF), surface morphologies and accommodation mechanism were investigated by adding copper-iron powder to the friction surface. Results showed that the COF reduced with the increasing iron concentration in copper-iron third body. For adding Cu, Cu90%-Fe10%, Cu50%-Fe50%, Cu10%-Fe90% and Fe third body, the COF increased at speed of 100-600 rpm, while, it decreased when speeds ranged within 600-1500 rpm. At low speed, copper and iron acted as metal particles participated in friction, which increased the meshing force between the asperities, resulting in increasing the friction coefficient. At high speed, reduction of the COF could be attributed to the oxidative wear of iron reducing the adhesion of copper third body.