Tribological and mechanical characterization of Al-Ni-SiC metal matrix composites

Abstract

Aluminium being light weight metal used widely in many engineering applications. It’s being a highly ductile material in its purest form also limits its applications in load carrying members. Addition of alloying elements like nickel and silicon carbide can make aluminium a better material for many applications. In this work aluminium metal matrix composite is prepared by adding nickel powder of 30 microns4% and silicon carbide of 45 microns in 2,4,6and 8% by weight of matrix material. Composite was prepared by using a powder metallurgy (PM) at room temperature compaction. The compaction load was optimized to 15tonns for successful fabrication of green specimen; these green specimens were sintered in a furnace to 5400 temperatures and furnace cooled. It was found that reinforcement of nickel and silicon carbide significantly improved the mechanical properties of the composite; hardness is improved by 35% in that compaction load. Wear rate of the composite is reduced from 200 micrometers to 50 micrometers for 5000 meters of track length at a load of 5N. The prepared composite also shown a uniform distribution of reinforcement particle in the matrix material under micro structural studies.