Tribological Behaviour of SiC Particle Reinforced Al-Si Alloy.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of SiC reinforcement along with immiscible element addition in spray formed Al-Si base alloy. The investigation is done for four different compositions, i.e., Al-Si base alloy, Al-Si/SiC, Al-Si-5Sn/SiC and Al-Si-10Sn/SiC composite. The dry sliding wear properties of base alloy and composites were investigated against EN 31 steel at five different normal loads (14.7, 24.5, 34.3, 44.1 and 53.9 N). The tests were carried out in dry sliding conditions with a sliding speed of 1.6 ms over pin-on-disc tribometer. Each composition is tested at four different temperatures 50, 75, 100 and 150 °C. To determine the wear mechanism, the worn surfaces of the samples were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The composites emerge to be better wear resistant material than base alloy especially at higher loads. The optimum wear reduction was obtained in Al-Si-10Sn/SiC composite at all the different normal loads and temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]