Investigation of tribological properties of Al-Mg-Si/SiCp nanocomposites prepared by ultrasonic assisted casting method

Abstract

In the present study, wear properties on 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 vol% nano-SiCp reinforced Al-Mg-Si alloy metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) fabricated by ultrasonic assisted casting method. The pin on disc apparatus was used for wear testing. Dry sliding wear behavior of nanocomposites were studied by changing the normal load, sliding distance, sliding velocity, and volume fraction of nano-SiCp. The results showed that the wear rates of MMNCs were drastically lower than the unreinforced alloy and the rate of wear decreases as the reinforcement content in the metal matrix increases. The MMNC containing 1.5 vol% nano-SiCp yielded lowest wear rate. It was also observed that the increase in applied load, sliding velocity and sliding distance increases the wear rate of both nanocomposites and monolithic alloy. The average friction co-efficient decreases gradually, with increase in normal load as well as nano-SiCp content. From the scanning electron microscopic images, it was observed that the worn surface had deep long groove in the sliding direction for the monolithic Al alloy, whereas the worn surfaces of MMNCs possessed narrow grooves with almost a flat surface.