• Pandey, O. P.
• Raman, Ravi Shankar
• Singhal, Varun
• Bansal, Sandeep
• Gupta, Rahul
• Nanda, Tarun

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>In this work, high temperature tribological characteristics of ilmenite reinforced LM13 aluminium alloy based composites (AMCs) and boron carbide reinforced AMCs are compared. Stir-cast composites were processed using boron carbide (CDP) and ilmenite (NDP) particles separately as reinforcements. Particle size range was 106–125 μm and reinforcement levels were 5, 10, and 15 wt.% for both types of composites. Both composites exhibited uniform distribution of reinforced particles and grain refinement. Compared to the LM13 base alloy, NDP composite containing 15 wt.% reinforcement showed significant improvement in hardness (57%), coefficient of friction (57%), mild-to-severe wear transition temperature, average steady-state wear rate (49%), and coefficient of thermal expansion (55%). CDP-15 composite showed slightly better properties than NDP-15 composite. Microstructure refinement, increased dimensional stability, formation of oxide layer, and formation of tribo-layer due to reinforcement of the ceramic fillers were the main reasons for improvement in properties of processed AMCs. SEM-EDS of wear tracks-debris showed abrasive/delamination wear as the main mechanisms for materials loss. The research showed that the low-cost ilmenite particles can substitute for the very costly boron carbide particles as reinforcements in AMCs used for dry sliding wear applications under high operating temperatures-applied load conditions of the order of 300°C-49 N.</jats:p>

Topics

• grain
• scanning electron microscopy
• aluminium
• carbide
• aluminium alloy
• composite
• hardness
• thermal expansion
• Boron
• Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
• coefficient of friction