Optimization of dry sliding wear behavior of aluminum LM4-Ta/NbC nano composite using Taguchi technique

Abstract

Dry sliding wear behavior of aluminum LM4 based composite reinforced with Tantalum niobium carbide ceramic powder by varying percentage of reinforcement as 0.5 wt% to 2 wt%. Powder metallurgy method was used to develop the composites. Pin-on-disc apparatus was used to evaluate the dry sliding wear behavior of the developed composites. Taguchi design of experiment was used to optimization. The influence of various parameters are investigated by analysis of variance (ANOVA). From the wear results, it was observed that the applied load is having more influence on dry sliding wear followed by sliding speed. Also it was observed that percentage of reinforcement of (Tantalum Niobium carbide) Ta/NbC shows some influence on dry sliding wear rate. The worn surface analysis was done by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The analysis shows that incorporation of hard ceramic composites in alloys plays a major role in dry sliding wear resistance properties.