Tribological Behavior of AZ91-Al2O3 Composites by Powder Metallurgy

An economic system of magnesium matrix composites was prepared through powder metallurgy technique by varying the reinforcement weight percentage. The developed composite is prepared for the metallographic studies as per the standards and subjected X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis to visualize the microstructure, presence and distribution of reinforcement. The tribological study has been conducted with the L9 design and statistically analyzed for the significance of the parameters like reinforcement, load, and sliding velocity using pin-on-disk apparatus. Based on the statistical analysis, the highly influencing parameters are identified as reinforcement percentage followed by sliding velocity and load. Also, using the main effect plot, optimal parameters are identified as high reinforcement percentage, least level load, and maximum level sliding velocity.