Carbon/Carbon Composite Friction Discs for Aerospace

Abstract

Abstract Carbon/carbon friction discs are produced at Newmet Composites (a division of New Metals & Chemicals Ltd.) for flap jam systems in airplanes. They offer excellent mechanical and friction properties. New carbon/carbon composite grades have been developed at Newmet Composites during the last few years. Another material that is used for this applications is bronze. Different material grades and different designs are compared in this paper. The key‐properties discussed are compression strength, flexural strength and friction behaviour. The friction tests were simulating the friction behavior during the application of such discs. Compression tests were made to define the possible application: For the application in the flap jam system the compression strength has to be 207 MPa at the minimum, for other applications this is not necessarily required. A test described briefly in this paper was developed for flexural strength. The flexural strength is not very important during the application, but important when the discs are being handled and built in. It could be shown that both production parameters and design have a significant influence on the performance of carbon/carbon friction discs. These results are needed to define further applications for these materials. Finally the material carbon/carbon is briefly compared with alternative materials.