Parametric studies on dry sliding wear behaviour of Al-7075 alloy matrix composite using S/N ratio and ANOVA analysis

Al7075/10 wt% TiO2 alloy composite has been fabricated by the stir casting method to investigate the influence of wear parameters. The microstructure of the produced composite was analyzed by scanning electronic microscopy. A pin-on-disc rig was used to carry out the wear test on produced composite under dry sliding conditions. The three wear control parameters such as load, sliding velocity and sliding distance were chosen to study the effects on the wear rate and coefficient of friction of composite. The experiments were planned as per L9 orthogonal array based on Taguchi's design of experiments. The signal-to-noise ratio and analysis of variance techniques were employed to determine the optimum combination of parameters and the significant contribution of each parameter on the responses. The results exposed that the load was the most predominant factor affecting the wear rate and coefficient of friction followed by the sliding distance and sliding velocity. Finally, the regression equations were developed to predict the responses. The worn surface morphology of composite noticed that TiO2 reinforcement protects the matrix alloy from removal of material at all conditions. This investigation revealed that the wear resistance of the Al7075 alloy can be enhanced by the incorporation of TiO2 particles.