Dry Sand Abrasion Wear of Aluminium-Graphite Composite Synthesized in Open Hearth Furnace with Manually Controlled Stirring Method

Abstract

A B S T R A C T Aluminium alloys are known to have very good mechanical properties but they lack good resistant to wear. By adding solid lubricant particles like graphite into the Aluminium alloy the material shows better tribological properties. The distribution of graphite particles was improved by adding elements like magnesium in the Aluminium matrix. Stir casting is generally used for synthesis of composite due to its simplicity and low cost. In the present work, Aluminium based composite containing graphite particles (5% by weight) and magnesium (5% by weight) in the commercially pure Aluminium alloy was synthesized. The stir casting method was used to synthesize the composite. For the stir casting, the open hearth furnace with a hand-driven stirring arrangement was used. The present work aims to understand the abrasion wear characteristics of the casted composite.