Atomistic study of the friction and wear behaviors of Cu/SiC nanocomposite: The interaction among reinforcement particle, matrix and counterpart

X Luo and YN Xiong and XM Liu and XW Feng and ZB Zhang and FX Yin and ZB Zheng, APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE, 696, 163010 (2025).

DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.163010

Friction and wear behaviors of Cu/SiC nanocomposite material were investigated by molecular dynamic (MD) simulation, whereby the scratching depth, the scratching velocity and the size of SiC particle were taken into account. The simulation result indicated that the presence of SiC can effectively reduce friction and wear, while it is closely related with the scratching depth. Once the scratching depth is greater than a critical value, it will lead to an increase in the friction coefficient or both the friction coefficient and the wear rate. Interestingly, it was found that the increase in scratching velocity had a minor influence on the tribological responses and the wear rate of Cu/SiC, yet it would accelerate the wear of SiC particles. Moreover, the Cu/SiC nanocomposite with larger SiC nanoparticles exhibits a lower friction coefficient and wear rate as well as a higher critical scratching depth. Evidently, increasing the size of SiC particles can enhance the tribological performance of the Cu/SiC nano-composite under high-stress conditions.

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