MECHANICAL AND WEAR BEHAVIOR OF Al2O3 REINFORCED Al-7Si ALLOY MATRIX COMPOSITES

Abstract

Aluminum and its alloys are the most commonly used light metal alloys. It has very good set of properties like high strength to weight ratio, good cast-ability, mechanical performance, high thermal conductivity because of this it has wide range of applications e.g. marine applications, car engines, piston cylinders and engine parts, cylinder blocks and heads, cylinder liners, axles and wheels, rocker arms, vehicles transmission box casings, water cooled jackets and passages, pistons for internal combustion engines, pump’s reciprocating parts, high speed rotating parts and impellers etc. But aluminum and its alloys lacks in wear properties. In this study, UST and alumina reinforcements are done to improve mechanical and wear properties of Al-7Si alloy. Tensile strength and hardness are found to be increasing with the reinforcement of micron-size (40-50μm) Al2O3 particles in Al-7Si alloy matrix when compared with as-cast Al-7Si alloy. Sliding wear test was performed at pin on disc type wear testing machine at 1m/sec velocity for 3000 m distance and it is observed that the wear rate was decreasing with the reinforcement of Al2O3 particles in Al-7Si alloy in comparison with Al-7Si as-cast alloy and Al-7Si with UST.