Effect of Ceramic Fiber Parameters on Frictional Performance

The use of ceramic fiber in friction applications is presently a relatively small market. However, based on the market need for a high temperature reinforcing material the use of ceramic fibers should grow rapidly, specially in the more demanding applications. In the study presented here, the effect of various fiber characteristics of ceramic fiber will be evaluated in a simple formulation for frictional and mechanical properties. The particular fiber characteristics evaluated are fiber dimensions, fiber surface and amount of non-fibrous material. A comparison between ceramic fiber, glass fiber and PMF will also be presented to show the relative level of performance of the three competitive materials.