Appraisal of tribological properties of A356 with 20% SiC composites under dry sliding condition

Abstract

The goal of this research work is to assess the tribological properties of A356 alloy reinforced with 20 wt% SiC composite prepared by liquid metallurgy route. A356 alloy and A356 with 20 wt% SiC composites were manufactured through three different casting techniques such as gravity die casting, stir casting and stir cum squeeze casting. The fabricated castings exhibit improved hardness value of around 680 MPa, 840 MPa and 950 MPa for A356 alloy, A356 with 20 wt% SiC stir cast composite and A356 with 20 wt% SiC stir with squeeze cast composite, respectively. Further, an ultimate tensile strength of 256 MPa, 298 MPa and 331 MPa was obtained for A356 alloy, A356 with 20 wt% SiC stir cast composite and A356 with 20 wt% SiC stir with squeeze cast composite, respectively. The tribological properties of prepared samples were tested using a pin-on-disk tribometer at room temperature under dry sliding condition. The wear results explained that the wear rate and coefficient of friction started to increase with the function of load (10-40 N) under both the sliding distance of 1000 m and 2000 m. The squeeze cast A356 with 20 wt% SiC composite produced less wear rate and a higher coefficient of friction when compared to other samples. This was attributed to effective embedding, bonding and load-carrying capacity of SiC particles over the A356 matrix. This result indicates improved adhesive properties and abrasion resistance in the squeeze cast A356 with 20 wt% SiC composite. Further, the worn surface morphology of squeeze cast samples was examined using a scanning electron microscope to observe mild adhesive wear and damages due to the delamination effect.

Effect of WC particles on the mechanical behavior and machinability of aluminum matrix composites

“…41 In addition, the stir casting method provides better interfacial bonding compared to other methods due to the stirring of particles into the melt matrix. 42,43…”

“…41 In addition, the stir casting method provides better interfacial bonding compared to other methods due to the stirring of particles into the melt matrix. 42,43 The aim of this study is to improve the machinability and mechanical properties of aluminum matrix composite material by adding WC particles. When the literature is examined, there is almost no study examining the effect of WC reinforcement on the machinability of aluminum matrix composite materials.…”

Tribological and mechanical characterization of as-cast and thermal treated Al-9Si/SiC graded composite

“…The microstructural variation of T6 thermal treated A359/SiC FGMMC along all three layers, turned to be an outcome of poor grain modifying ability of SiC. 35 Generally, thermal treated ceramic reinforcement particles do not undergo microstructural changes to influence the composite behavior. Whereas, the acicular plate like Si observed along the matrix area are broken down into spheroidized Si.…”

Dry sliding tribological properties of A356-SiCP aluminum matrix composites prepared by vacuum stir casting

“…Further, critical transition temperature at which wear rates transit from mild to severe also increases with increasing SiC content. Soundararajan et al (2020) showed that the wear rate and friction coefficient of A356-20 Wt.% SiC increased with the function of load (10–40 N) under both the sliding distance of 1000 and 2000 m. Balasubramanya et al (2014) reported that the wear rate of A356 alloy as well as A356 reinforced with SiC P and graphite increased with increasing of sliding speed. But the obtained results were contradictory to those obtained by Ravikiran and Surappa (1997), who studied the effect of sliding speed range of 0.5–10 m/s on wear behavior of A356 Al-30 Wt.% SiC P .…”