ABRASIVE WEAR BEHAVIOUR OF SiCp-REINFORCED 2011 Al-ALLOY COMPOSITES

In this study, the abrasive wear behaviour of aluminium-alloy (Al-2011) SiC-particle-reinforced composites was investigated and compared with that of the matrix alloy. The experimental variables were the SiC-particle proportion, sliding distance and abrasive grit size. Al-2011 reinforced composites containing volume fractions (7, 14 and 21) % SiCp were fabricated with the vortex method. Sliding-wear tests were carried out using a pin-on-disc abrasive-test machine where a sample slides against a SiC abrasive of different grit sizes at a fixed speed, under the load of 4 N at room conditions. The results show that the wear resistance of the composites was significantly larger than that of the Al-2011 alloy; it increased with the increasing SiC-particle proportion and decreased with the increasing abrasive grit size.