In order to reduce the cost of friction materials,and at the same time to ensure the good performance of friction materials,based on the original formula of the friction materials,the foam iron powder of the size from 80 mesh to 300 mesh was replaced by the foam iron powder of the size from 20 mesh to 120 mesh or by reduced iron powder of the size of 325 mesh,and the samples of friction material were prepared with the same hotpressing technique and heat treatment process.The hardness of the samples was measured by using the Rockwell hardness tester,the friction and wear properties were tested using a constant velocity friction tester,the wear surface morphology was observed with scanning electron microscopy,and the wear mechanism was analyzed.The results show that when the particle size of foam iron becomes larger,the average friction coefficient and wear rate are increased with the increase of its content,but the stability of friction coefficient is improved.The reduced iron powder has obvious effect of increasing friction and heat fading phenomenon,especially in the recovery process,the friction coefficient has large change and is unstable,but the wear rate is low.The foam iron powder from 20 mesh to 120 mesh can improve the the stability of friction coefficient and reduce the abrasive wear and fatigue wear of friction material,which can be used to replace the foam iron powder from 80 mesh to 300 mesh.