Wear Characteristic of Dual Reinforced Particles (DRP) Aluminum Alloy

Abstract

The present investigation aims to find the combined effect of dual reinforced particle in aluminium alloy LM13 on the wear behavior. The composites are fabricated by varying the percentage of reinforcement of silicon carbide and zircon sand particles. The wear behavior of composites is compared with each other to find out optimum combination of dual reinforced particles. Particles of 20-32 m size are used in the present study. The wear test was carried out on pin-on disk machine. Wear track and debris are analyzed by SEM to study the wear mechanism. Study reveals that a combination of 3.75% zircon sand and 11.25% silicon carbide reinforced composite exhibits better wear resistance while 7.5% zircon sand and 7.5% silicon carbide reinforcement decreases the wear resistance. It is also observed that zircon sand and silicon carbide particles provide effective nucleation site for the eutectic silicon. Microstructural examination shows globular and finely distributed eutectic silicon in the vicinity of the reinforced particles.