Abrasive wear behaviour of SiC whisker-reinforced silicate matrix composites

Abstract

The abrasive wear behaviour of SiC whisker-reinforced borosilicate and magnesium aluminosilicate (MAS) composites is investigated under different conditions. Generally, MAS composites exhibited superior wear resistance compared to borosilicate composites. The superior wear resistance of MAS composites is attributed to its higher mechanical properties. The wear resistance increased by increasing volume fraction of whiskers. Sliding distance, sliding velocity and load exhibit significant influence on the material loss. During abrasive wear, silicate matrices undergo extensive contact damage due to repeated indentation of SiC particulates/whiskers. Under repeated contact events, cracks generated at various locations of the matrix simultaneously grow and join resulting in delamination of composite material. In the composites, material removal is delayed by various toughening mechanisms like crack deflection, bridging and whisker pull-out.