Assessment of mechanical and tribological characteristics of Silicon Nitride reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites

The present paper focuses on the investigation of physical, mechanical and tribological characteristics of Al6063 alloy reinforced with Silicon Nitride powder. The Al6063-Silicon Nitride Metal Matrix Composites were fabricated by following stir casting method of liquid metallurgy technique. The amount of reinforcement incorporation in matrix material was from 0 to 10 wt% varied in intervals of 2. The obtained composites were used in the investigative studies related to physical, mechanical & tribological experimentations. The tests were performed on the Al6063 alloy and its composites as per in harmony with the ASTM Standards. The test results it can be observed and appreciated that increasing the reinforcement percentage, the characteristics like hardness and density increased monolithically and significantly. The dry sliding wear test is performed using pin on disc configuration tribometer and the results state that the composite has higher wear resistance. Basically the Al6063 is relatively soft and as per dry sliding wear concern at the applications of stringers, upper and lower wings of aircraft, floor breams, seat tracks, fuselage of an aircraft's, the wear resistance plays a crucial role in relative movement at contact surfaces, hence the present work focused on developing Al6063-Silicon Nitride Metal Matrix Composites with enhanced mechanical and tribological properties. Off all the compositions, the composite material having the highest percentage of reinforcement showed better properties. Scanning Electron Microscope, Energy Dispersive Microscopy images were used to study the fabricated composites before and after the wear morphology during wear test.