In order to investigate the tribological behavior of copper based friction plates for belt conveyor, the Cu-Fe based friction materials were prepared by powder metallurgy technology.The tribological behavior of friction plates under dry braking conditions was studied by ring-block friction and wear tester. The effect of Fe on the friction behavior and wear mechanism of copper-based composite friction plates was studied. The results showed that the copper-graphite composites with Fe added to the copper-graphite composites exhibit better tribological properties under high load, and the graphite-rich mechanical mixing layer (MML) formed on the friction surface was more robust.