Study of Tribological and Mechanical Properties of A356-Nano SiC Composites

In the present investigation, the microstructural, wear, tensile and compressive properties of Al-7Si alloy matrix nano composites have been discussed. It is noted that the composites contain higher porosity level in comparison to the matrix and increasing amount of porosity is observed with the increasing volume fraction of the reinforcement phase in the matrix. The wear sliding test disclosed that the wear resistance of the nano SiC reinforced composites is higher than that of the unreinforced alloy. It is believed that the presence of SiC particles could shield the matrix and silicon phase from directly experiencing the applied load from the counterface. It was revealed that the presence of nano-SiC reinforcement also enhanced the hardness, tensile and compressive yield strength of Al-7Si alloy which can be attributed to small particle size and good distribution of the SiC particles and grain refinement of the matrix. The highest yield strength and UTS was obtained by the composite with 3.5 vol% SiC nano-particles. The results show that the addition of nano-particles reduces the elongation of A356 alloy.