To Study the Role of WC Reinforcement and Deep Cryogenic Treatment on AZ91 MMNC Wear Behavior Using Multilevel Factorial Design

Abstract

The present investigation explores the collective outcome of hard particle reinforcement with deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) on wear responses of magnesium metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNC). A multilevel factorial design of experiments with control factors of applied load (20 and 40 N), sliding speed (1.3, 1.7, 2.2, and 3.3 m/s), reinforcement % (0% and 1.5%), and cryogenic treatment (cryogenic-treated and nontreated) was deployed. Around 1.5 wt % WC-reinforced MMNC were fabricated using stir-casting process. DCT was performed at −190 °C with soaking time of 24 h. The dry sliding wear trials were done on pin-on-disk tribometer with MMNC pin and EN8 steel disk for a constant sliding distance of 2 km. The WC reinforcement contributed toward the improvement in wear rate of MMNC appreciably by absorbing the load and frictional heat at all loads and speeds. During DCT of AZ91, the secondary ß-phase (Mg17Al12) was precipitated that enriched the wear resistance, only for the higher load of 40 N. Scanning electron microscope analyses of the cryogenic-treated MMNC ensured the existence of both ß-phase precipitates and WC in the contact area. As a result, the adhesiveness of this pin was lesser, which attributed to the improved wear resistance (approximately 33%) as compared to base alloy. The coefficient of friction was also less for cryogenic-treated MMNC. A regression analysis was made to correlate the control elements and the responses.

Nano-Enhanced Phase Reinforced Magnesium Matrix Composites: A Review of the Matrix, Reinforcement, Interface Design, Properties and Potential Applications

“…For example, Banerjee et al [70] used Taguchi method to study the wear properties of nano-WC reinforced magnesium matrix composites. Karuppusamy et al [71] studied the impact of treated WC on the wear properties of magnesium alloys by multi-level factor design. Kumar et al [72] proposed a league championship optimization (LCO) technique to select the composition parameters of the Mg-WC metal matrix.…”

Fabrication and Investigation of Abrasive Wear Behavior of AZ31-WC-Graphite Hybrid Nanocomposites

“…Moreover, tribological properties have also enhanced significantly compared to AZ31 alloy due to incorporation of the same amount of nanoparticles. Karuppusamy et al [25,26] developed AZ91-1.5WC nanocomposite and observed excellent wear behavior at cryogenic treated condition.…”

Improving scratch-resistance and wear-resistance of VN film by deep cryogenic treatment with liquid nitrogen

“…Deep cryogenic treatment (DCT), as one of the effective methods to improve materials' properties, has been shown a considerable application prospect in the fields of aerospace, cutting tool and manufacturing industries [1,2]. In academia, DCT has been applied to tool steels [3][4][5], cemented carbides [6,7], Ti-based alloys [8][9][10], Mg-based alloys [11,12], Al-based alloys [13][14][15] and composites [16][17][18], to study the effect on the microstructure evolution and properties transform. To our knowledge, by DCT, the service performance of the coating/film can be also abstractly improved, to a certain extent.…”