CHAPTER 10 – Tribology properties of carbon nanotube-reinforced composites

Abstract The friction and wear behavior of fiber-reinforced composites is dependent on fabrication, operational and environmental parameters. In particular, the type of fibers employed seems to have crucial influence. Carbon nanotubes(CNTs), discovered less than 20 years ago, aroused big enthusiasm around the world because of their excellent properties and potential application in many fields. Compared with carbon fibers, CNTs possess an ultra-high strength, modulus and perfect graphite-layered structure, which imply their promising application as wearable materials in tribological fields. Friction and wear test results suggest that, compared with carbon fiber-reinforced composites, composites with CNTs as reinforcing elements exhibit more stable frictional coefficient and lower wear rates, especially at the high temperature. Based on experimental results conducted on epoxy resin and carbon matrix composites, two possible mechanisms about friction and wear process are proposed. In addition, some potential tribological applications of CNT-reinforced composites are discussed in brief.