Reciprocating wear behavior of 7075Al/SiC in comparison with 6061Al/Al2O3 composites

In the present study, the reciprocating wear behavior of 7075Al/SiC composites and 6061Al/Al2O3 composites that are prepared through liquid metallurgy route is analyzed to find out the effects of weight percentage of reinforcement and load at the fixed number of strokes on a reciprocating wear testing machine. The Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) pins are prepared with different weight percentages (10, 15 and 20%) of SiC and Al2O3 particles with size of 36 μm. Hardness of these composites increases with increase in wt.% of reinforcement. However, the impact strength decreases with increase in reinforcement content. The experimental result shows that the volume loss of MMC specimens is less than that of the matrix alloy. However, the volume loss is greater in 6061Al/Al2O3 composites when compared to 7075Al/SiC composites. The temperature rise near the contact surface of the MMC specimens increases with increase in wt.% of reinforcement and applied load. The coefficient of friction decreases with increase in load in both cases.