Abstract
The limited mechanical and tribological stability of carbon fiber reinforced PEEK matrix composites at elevated temperatures remains a major obstacle to their widespread application in extreme service environments. In this work, stain-woven carbon fiber (60 wt%) reinforced PEEK composite (CP60) was fabricated via compression molding, and its temperature-dependent mechanical and wear performance was systematically evaluated. Friction and wear behavior were systematically investigated using pin-on-disc tests under dry sliding conditions. Experiments were conducted at two distinct temperatures (room temperature (RT) and 200 °C) with diverse loads (200–400 N) and sliding velocities (0.47 and 0.94 m/s). The composite exhibited lower average friction coefficients (0.16–0.41) and moderate wear resistance property ((4.23–6.72) × 10−7 mm3/Nm) at RT. At 200 °C, CP60 demonstrated increased average friction coefficients (0.18–0.56) and wear rate ((5.72–10.8) × 10−7 mm3/Nm), respectively. At RT, the wear mechanism was primarily abrasive, where debris shed from the surface interacted with the contact surface, gradually forming a friction transfer film. However, at 200 °C, the wear mechanism transitioned to adhesive wear, as the PEEK matrix softened and adhered to the counterface, destabilizing the transfer film and intensifying wear. Compared to other polymer-based materials and lightweight alloys such as Mg or Al, CP60 exhibits a relatively lower specific wear rate (wear rate-to-density ratio), highlighting its unique advantage in lightweight systems that require a balance of tribo-mechanical performance. This study achieves a trade-off between high fiber loading and brittleness. It provides valuable insights into the development and use of polymer composites in tribological systems exposed to elevated temperatures.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Volume
40
Publication Title
Journal of Materials Research and Technology
Publisher
Elsevier
School
Centre for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing / School of Engineering
Funders
National Natural Science Foundation of China (52471037) / Changbaishan Laboratory (CBS2025004-03) / Cooperative Fund for Industry-Academia-Research Collaboration of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (SPMI2024-05)
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
First Page
605
Last Page
617
Comments
Xu, Z., Kou, S., Qiu, F., Chen, L., Yang, H., Dai, J., Shu, S., Guo, R., Jiang, Q., & Zhang, L. (2025). Tribological properties of woven carbon fiber/PEEK composites from ambient to 200 °C: Ultra-low wear and performance evolution. Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 40, 605–617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2025.12.141