Wear behaviour of eutectic and hypoeutectic Al-Si-Mg-Ce alloys.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the wear behaviour of eutectic and hypoeutectic Al-Si-Mg-Ce alloys. Design/methodology/approach – The eutectic and hypoeutectic alloys were prepared using permanent mould casting process by varied cerium (Ce) addition in the alloy from 1 to 3 wt%. Dry sliding wear tests were performed against a hardened carbon steel (Fe-2.3%Cr-0.9%C) using a pin-on-disc configuration with fixed sliding speed of 1 m/s and load 50 N at room temperature of ~25 degree. Morphologies of both worn surfaces and collected debris were characterised by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). Findings – It was revealed that following the addition of cerium, intermetallic Al4Ce needle-like structure was present in eutectic alloys whereas CeMg2Si2 blocky phase was present in the hypoeutectic alloys. The increasing of Ce addition up to 3.0 wt% in hypoeutectic alloy led to formation of AlCe3 intermetallic phase. The increase in cerium content up to 2 wt% led to higher wear resistance behaviour for both as-cast alloys. Formation of craters and localised plastic deformation were observed on the worn surface of both as-cast alloys, resulting fine particulate and sheet-like wear debris. The wear resistance was found to be higher for hypoeutectic alloy compared to the eutectic alloy containing Ce. Originality/value – An attempt has been made to study the influence of intermetallic compound containing Ce in the Al-Si-Mg alloys on wear behaviour of both as-cast alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]