Tribological Properties of Aluminium Reinforced with Differently Oriented Carbon Nanotube: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been carried out to envisage the sliding friction response of single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) reinforced aluminum (Al) nanocomposites and pure Al. The simulations have been performed with different sliding velocities (0.02-0.11 angstrom ps(-1)) using the three-layer model. The effect of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforcement, CNT orientation, and sliding velocities on the coefficient of friction (COF), abrasion rate, and mean square displacement (MSD) have been predicted. The reinforcement of CNT decreased the COF to 0.06 by 45% and the lowest abrasion rate of 0.093%. The reinforcement of CNT in Al parallel to the sliding direction of the Fe rod indenter was found to be more effective for improvement in the tribological properties as compared to perpendicularly reinforced CNT. The increase in sliding velocity of the indenter increased the COF from 0.06 to 0.08 and decreased the abrasion rate from 0.172% to 0.094% for CNT-Al nanocomposites. The ANOVA at the 95% level of confidence revealed that the effect of sliding velocities (0.02-0.11 angstrom ps(-1)) of indenter was found to be insignificant for the variation in COF and significant for variation of abrasion rate while the type of reinforcement was found to be significant for both COF as well as for the abrasion rate. The MSD revealed the higher migration of Al atoms from the surface of nanocomposites at higher sliding velocity.

Automated summary

Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the sliding friction response of SWCNT-reinforced Al nanocomposites and pure Al. The reinforcement of CNT significantly decreased the COF and abrasion rate, while sliding velocity and reinforcement orientation also played significant roles in tribological properties.