Tribological and surface behavior of silicon carbide reinforced aluminum matrix nanocomposite

In this study, wear characteristics of aluminum alloy Al6061, and its nanocomposite, Al6061/nano-SiC processed by Liquid metallurgy method are investigated. The experiments were conducted in pin-on-disk setup by varying the parameters load at 10 N, 20 N, 30 N, 40 N, and sliding speed at 0.5 m/s with a distance of 1000 m. The worn samples and wear debris were analyzed under a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) equipped with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), 3D profilometer to understand the wear mechanisms. The wear test result shows that Al6061-SiC nanocomposite exhibited improved wear resistance than the Al6061 alloy. Worn surface analysis shows different dominant mechanisms, like abrasion, delamination, oxidation and adhesive at different applied loads. The co-efficient of friction of Al6061/nanocomposite were lower than those of the unreinforced alloy at various applied load and results a minimum of 0.324 at 0.5 m/s under 40 N. The wear surface roughness of nanocomposite is 1.69 mu m but the matrix roughness is 6.20 mu m at 0.5 m/s under 40 N.