Effect of in situ TiC reinforcement and applied load on the high-stress abrasive wear behaviour of zinc–aluminum alloy

Abstract

In-situ composites with clear advantages of a clean interface, adequate particle size, and good interfacial bonding between the reinforcement and matrix play a lead role in choosing materials with superior tribological properties. In this study, in situ TiC reinforced Zinc Aluminum alloy composites were prepared, and the effect of applied load and abrading distance on the high-stress abrasive wear response of these composites was investigated. Matrix alloy and conventionally used Gunmetal were also tested for high-stress abrasive wear properties. It was observed that increasing the TiC reinforcement content from 5 wt % to 10 wt % results in improved wear resistance in the Zinc aluminum-based composite. The 10 wt % TiC reinforced composite shows superior wear behaviour among all samples and proves to be a suitable replacement of gunmetal in bearing applications.