Sliding Wear Behaviour of Nickel-Coated Short Fibre-Reinforced Al7075 Composites

Abstract

In the present study, Aluminium-7075 alloy is reinforced with nickel-coated short carbon fibres in the form of short fibre. These composites were prepared by stir casting method with 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt.% of nickel-coated carbon fibres. Wear resistance of aluminium alloy and its composites were analysed according to the ASTM standards. The experiments were conducted using pin-on-disc wear test and rig wear test method with different loads. From the wear test, it was found that aluminium composites with 8% nickel-coated carbon fibre rate of wear are minimum. Worn and fractured surfaces of cast aluminium alloy and the developed composites are analysed by SEM. The test results reveal that the wear resistance of the prepared MMCs improves with the addition of carbon fibre.