Study on Strontium and Sodium Modification Elements on Microstructure, Mechanical, Wear and Fracture Behavior of Al7075 Alloy by Taguchi Technique

Abstract

Several industrial applications make substantial use of the aluminium alloy. The impact of Sr/Na on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and wear mechanics of Al7075 alloy was examined in the current experiment. The findings showed that the microstructure improved by the inclusion of elements (Sr/Na). Uniform dispersion of particles (Sr/Na) and changed structure of silicon (Si) in the Al7075 alloy were noted. Hardness of the developed alloys was checked with micro hardness tester and micrographs were taken using metallurgical microscope. Pin-and-Disc wear test equipment was used to measure the wear rate of the modified alloys. The wear test trials were carried out using the Taguchi technique in order to increase the accuracy of the results. The L27 array was used to evaluate the data. Applying ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) approach, the impact of changing parameters (factors) on wear loss and COF was examined. The obtained result indicates that, hardness and tensile strength increases by 37.78% and 14.57% respectively when compared to the base alloy. It is due to the increase of wt. % Sr modifier. The ANOVA analysis results indicate that, wt. % of Sr is most significant (69.70 %) parameter followed by Na (wt. %), Load (N) & Speed (rpm).The Sr/Na content has a more substantial impact on the wear behaviour and COF of the modified alloy, according to the results of the ANOVA. A worn-out surface's internal fracture structure can be seen in a wear fractography report after SEM analysis.