The sliding wear behaviour of Al---SiC particulate composites-I. Macrobehaviour

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the sliding wear rate and the coefficient of friction of SiC particulate reinforced Al matrix composites as a function of volume of SiC. Towards this purpose, aluminium with 10, 20, 30 and 40 vol.% SiC and Al, in the form of pins, have been wear tested against a hardened steel disc at two test loads (52 and 122 N) and one sliding velocity (1 m/s). The results indicate that while the wear rate of Al---SiC decreases with increasing fraction of SiC, the corresponding effect on coefficient of friction is only marginal. An addition of even 10% SiC to Al, is shown to prevent the transition from mild to severe wear in the load range used in the present experiments. Further, interrupted and uninterrupted sliding wear tests provide contrasting results especially with regard to coefficient of friction.