Wear and abrasion of cast Al-Alumina particle composites

Abstract

Wear rates for cast aluminium and Al-Si alloys containing up to 5 wt.% γ-Al 2O 3 particles (100 μm size) were determined under conditions of adhesive wear and abrasive wear against a hardened steel disc and an alumina abrasive cloth sheet respectively. The adhesive wear rate of aluminium containing 5 wt.% A1 2O 3 dispersions is similar to that of Al-11.8Si eutectic alloy and slightly higher than that of A1-16Si hypereutectic alloy. Al-3wt. %Al 2O 3 and Al-5wt.%Al 2O 3 composites perform better than Al-11.8Si and Al-16Si hypereutectic alloys under abrasive wear conditions. Al-11.8Si and Al-16Si alloys have a lower abrasive wear resistance than pure aluminium. The results indicate that Al 2O 3 particles can be used as a substitute for silicon as the hard dispersed phase in aluminium for wear-resistant and abrasion-resistant applications.