Effect of aramid pulp on improving mechanical and wet tribological properties of carbon fabric/phenolic composites

Abstract To improve the mechanical and wet tribological properties, the carbon fabric/phenolic composites containing 0 wt% (F0), 0.5 wt% (F1) and 1 wt% (F2) aramid pulp were prepared by filtration method. Subsequently, their three-dimensional surface profiles, skeletal densities, porosities and compression modules were characterized. Results show that the bridging and strengthening effects of aramid pulp can dramatically enhance the interfacial bonding. The shear and tensile strengths increase with the rise of aramid pulp content and that of F2 are 1.23 MPa and 85.19 MPa, improved by 31% and 54% compared with F0. The incorporation of aramid pulp increases the friction coefficient and decreases the wear rate.