Preparation of Mullite Composite Using Liquid Infiltration Technique

Porous mullite with a porosity of about 78% was fabricated using Al(OH)3, SiO2 and AlF3 powders to develop non-asbestos friction materials for brake pads. A mullite composite was fabricated by infiltrating liquid phenolic resins to the porous mullite. The effects of the processing parameters (infiltration frequency, immersion duration and resin temperature) on the properties of the mullite composite obtained by the liquid infiltration technique were studied. SEM analysis reveals that the parameters affected the degree of infiltration and hardness of the mullite composite by changing the infiltration frequency and immersion duration. With increasing immersion duration and infiltration frequency, the resultant porosity had lower values. In the case of hardness, the measured values showed an opposite tendency.