Synergic effect of reinforcement and heat treatment on the two body abrasive wear of an Al–Si alloy under varying loads and abrasive sizes

In the present study, an attempt was made to examine the synergic effect of SiC particle reinforcement and heat treatment on the two body abrasive wear behavior of an Al–Si alloy (BS: LM13) under varying loads and abrasive sizes. Silicon carbide particles with size 50–80 μm were reinforced in Al–Si alloy, in varying concentration (10 wt% and 15 wt%), by solidification process (vortex technique) and the composite melt was solidified by gravity casting in a cast iron die. The alloy and composites were solution treated at 495 °C for 8 h, quenched in water and aged at 175 °C for 6 h and cooled in air. Two body abrasive wear behaviour of cast and heat-treated alloy and composite, was examined against abrasives of different sizes (40 μm, 60 μm and 80 μm), at varying applied loads (1 N, 3 N, 5 N and 7 N), up to a sliding distance of 108 m. It has been noted that the alloy suffers from higher wear rate than that of composites either in cast or heat-treated conditions, irrespective of applied load and abrasive size. Further, in most of the cases, the wear rate of composite decreases with increase in SiC particle content. Efforts were made to correlate wear behavior of Al alloy and composites in terms of mechanical properties, microstructural characteristics, applied load and abrasive size through an empirical equation.