Curing Kinetics of Bismaleimide Resin and High-Temperature Tribological Properties of Fabric-Reinforced Composites

Self-lubricating liners based on high-temperature friction-resistant fabric/resin composites play an important role in advanced industry. Meanwhile, the curing behavior of resin is one of the critical factors on the macroscopic properties of the cured products and the corresponding composites. Herein, aromatics-enriched structure of bismaleimide (BMI) were developed and the curing kinetics of BMI as well as the high-temperature tribological properties of fabric/BMI composites were strategically investigated. Model fitting methods have demonstrated that BMI adopted an autocatalytic reaction, which was highly consistent with the DSC measured curve. Based on the kinetic behavior and temperature-heating rates ( T -β) extrapolation, stepped curing process parameters were established and two other processes were designed for comparation from aspects of thermal resistance, hardness, bonding strength and friction performance of the composites. When the curing process was 180 °C/2 h + 220 °C/2 h + 240 °C/2 h, hardness and bonding strength of the fiber enhanced composites reached 0.654 GPa and 1.173 MPa, and, accordingly, the composite-based liner exhibited the best friction performance at 240 °C. The maximum (average) friction coefficient was 0.25 (0.084), and the wear rate was 1.53 × 10 –13 m 3 /(N·m). Compared with the other two processes, the wear rate was significantly reduced by 36.5% and 28.2%, respectively. The research provides a mode of theory guiding experiment, which is applicable to other resin systems. And furthermore, the findings explore a type of high-temperature wear-resistant composite, which is a potential candidate under harsh conditions.