Mechanical and tribological investigation on Al LM4/TiC composite fabricated through bottom pouring method

Abstract

Abstract In the present investigation LM4 reinforced 6 wt% Titanium Carbide particles composite was developed by stir casting bottom pouring method. The cast composite specimen was obtained in a cylindrical shape of dimensions 50 mm dia and 100 mm length. The composite specimens were prepared for mechanical and tribological test as per ASTM standards. The obtained results reveal that the mechanical properties are high as compared to the as cast LM4 alloy specimens. Microstructure analysis confirms that the uniform distribution of TiC particles. Tribological test was performed using pin-on-disc machine based on Taguchi’s design of experiments. L27 orthogonal array was selected by changing test parameter like applied load (10, 20, 30 N), sliding distance (600, 800, 1000 m) and sliding velocity (1.5 m/s, 2.5 m/s and 3.5 m/s). The most influencing test parameters were identified by using S/N ratio and ANOVA. The wear results reveled that wear rate increases as applied load increases, and it decreases with decrease in velocity. Also wear rate decreases as sliding distance increases and at some point, it became linear. The applied load was found to be most dominating (77.61%), sliding velocity (10.44%) and sliding distance (4.47%) are less dominating factors. Worn surface morphology was studied to understand the type of wear.