Study on the Tribological Behavior and the Interaction between Friction and Oxidation of Graphite Reinforced by Impregnated Phosphate at High Temperatures

The stability of the graphite seal device is a key factor for the normal operation of aero engines. However, conventional graphite exhibits poor comprehensive performance due to its porous structure, which limits its application at high temperatures. Therefore, in this paper, phosphate was used to impregnated graphite pores, and the interaction between the friction, wear, and oxidation of phosphate-impregnated graphite against superalloy at high temperatures was studied through pin-on-disk friction tests. The results revealed that the coefficient of friction (COF) of matrix graphite fluctuated greatly, from 0.07 to 0.17, in the range of 100 °C to 500 °C, while the COF of impregnated graphite was stable, at around 0.13, from 100 °C to 500 °C. The wear rates of the two types of graphite were close from 20 °C to 300 °C, while the wear rate of the impregnated graphite was significantly lower than that of the matrix graphite at higher temperatures, from 400 °C and 500 °C. The reason was that the impregnated phosphate reacted with graphite at a high temperature, forming the inert site which helped to inhibit the oxidation and maintain the mechanical properties of the impregnated graphite at high temperatures. In addition, the impregnated graphite could maintain better integrity of the contact surface and reduce the inclusion of large hard metal oxides, thus effectively reducing the abrasive wear of the disk. Therefore, the wear depth of the superalloy disk samples with impregnated graphite was significantly lower than that of the matrix graphite. The results promote the application of phosphate-impregnated graphite under the high temperature conditions of aero engines.