Fabrication and the wear behaviors of the carbon/aluminum composites based on wood templates

Wood with its rational and magical inner structures was used as a template to fabricate carbon/aluminum composites in this research. The carbon frame was first pyrolyzed from the wood template. The final composites were then obtained by infiltrating Al alloy into the carbon frame. The microstructures and the wear properties of these products were analyzed. The results show that the structures of the C/Al composites are modulated by the natural structures of the wood. Moreover, the carbon frame in the composites was shown to stabilize the coefficient of friction of the Al alloy. And, the carbon reduced the wear rate of the Al alloy as an efficient lubricant. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.