Sliding wear behaviour of aluminum syntactic foam: A comparison with Al-10Â wt% SiC composites

► Cenospheres in ASF are hollow spherical particles; these particles roll over the mating surface and help in reducing coefficient of friction and wear rate. ► The hollow cenospheres on the surface and subsurface provide more cushioning action against the applied load. ► These craters (exposed hollow cenospheres), under lubricating condition act as reservoir for lubricants and continuously feed the mating surface with lubricant. ► In composites, dense SiC particles penetrate deep into the counter surface and thus exhibit higher coefficient of friction and higher wear rate. ► Because of more scratching action frictional heating in AMC is more than that in ASF.