INVESTIGATION OF TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF AA8011-ZrB2 IN-SITU CAST-METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES

Aluminium alloy 8011 matrix composites reinforced with different weight percentages of ZrB2 were successfully fabricated using an in-situ casting technique. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic analyses were performed to examine the presence and distribution of the reinforcements in the composites. Wear tests were performed with the weight percentage of the reinforcement, temperature, load, sliding velocity and sliding distance as the input parameters for the wear rate as response. D3 steel was used as the counterpart. The effects of various factors on the wear rate were analysed using analysis of variances. The optimal combination of the 1500-m sliding distance, 4 % of mass fractions of ZrB2 reinforcement, 200 degrees C temperature, 10 N load and 2 m/s sliding velocity was found to give the minimum wear rate.