The effect of carbon fiber content on the friction and wear properties of carbon fiber reinforced polyimide composites

The current study examines the tribological performance of polyimide and carbon fiber reinforced polyimide (CF/PI) under dry sliding condition. Different contents of carbon fibers were employed as reinforcement. All filled and unfilled polyimide composites were tested against CGr15 ball and representative testing was performed. The effects of carbon fiber content on tribological properties of the composites were investigated. The worn surface morphologies of neat PI and its composites were examined by scanning electron microscopy and the wear mechanisms were discussed. Moreover, all filled polyimides have superior tribological characteristics to unfilled polyimides. The optimum wear reduction was obtained when the content of carbon fiber is 20 vol %. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008