Mechanical and tribological properties of short-fiber-reinforced SiC composites

The short-carbon-fiber-reinforced SiC ( C sf /SiC) composites were prepared by hot-pressing sintering with Si, Al and B as sintering additives. The effects of fiber volume fraction on the mechanical and tribological properties of the C sf /SiC composites were investigated. The results show that the bending strength values of the composites containing a certain content of the short carbon fibers are higher than that of the monolithic SiC. The friction coefficients of the composites decrease with increasing short carbon fibers content. Except of the composite containing 53 vol% short carbon fibers, the wear rates of the composites decrease with increasing short carbon fibers content, and are lower than that of the monolithic SiC drastically.