Role of Particle Size of Al2O3 Reinforcement on the Wear Performance of NiTi-Based Composites

The utilization of alumina particles as reinforcement and their incorporation into NiTi alloys offers a promising approach to enhance the performance of these materials. This study aims to investigate the influence of Al2O3 particle size on the phase stability, microstructure, and particularly the tribological behavior of NiTi-based composites. NiTi-4 wt% Al2O3 composites with varying Al2O3 particle sizes (0.3 mu m, 1 mu m, and 80 nm) were fabricated using the spark plasma sintering method. Microstructural analyses revealed that reducing the size of alumina reinforcement led to increased contents of martensite and NiTi(2)Ox/Ni3Ti phases, resulting in the improved microhardness of the composite samples. Tribological investigations demonstrated that decreasing the size of reinforcement particles resulted in enhanced wear performance of the NiTi-4 wt% Al2O3 composite. Furthermore, the composite containing nano-sized Al2O3 particles exhibited a higher friction coefficient compared to the other composites examined.

Automated summary

This study investigated the influence of Al2O3 particle size on the performance of NiTi-based composites and found that reducing the size of reinforcement particles can improve the hardness and wear resistance of the composites.