Comparison of Wear Behaviour of Al–12.5Si Alloy Reinforced with ZrO2 Using Spray Deposition and Stir Casting Technique

Abstract

Aluminium silicon alloy materials are commonly used in aerospace and automotive engineering applications due to their enhanced stiffness, excellent wear resistance and lightweight. The measurement of wear properties for these combinations is very tangled. This can differ under different operating conditions. Dry sliding wear properties of Al–12.5Si with reinforced zirconium oxide matrix composite have been investigated using stir casting and spray deposition methods. The weight fraction of ZrO<inf>2</inf> is 15%. The influence of applied nominal load (10 to 60 N) was investigated using the design of experiments. Wear properties of the hybrid composites were studied using pin-on-disc machine. The study found that the wear behaviour was improved by increasing the composition the zirconium oxide in alloy silicon matrix in both stir casting and spray forming techniques. The spray forming method showed lesser wear rate compared with stir casting method. Microstructure of the developed hybrid composites was analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The developed hybrid composite samples have twice the improvement in wear resistance using spray deposition. The influence of reinforced zirconium oxide in aluminium silicon metal matrix on the wear properties using spray forming method is highlighted. This study shows that the wear resistance of the metal matrix composites can be improved by increasing the ZrO<inf>2</inf> composition in aluminium silicon matrix. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.