Optimization of friction and wear behaviour of Al-Si3N4 nano composite and Al-Gr-Si3N4 hybrid composite under dry sliding conditions

The tribological behaviour of gravity die stir cast LM6 alloy with graphite (Gr) and silicon nitride nanoparticles was investigated. Al-Gr-Si3N4 hybrid composite, Al-Si3N4 nanocomposite and Al-Gr nanocomposites were separately fabricated to investigate their frictional and wear characteristics under dry sliding conditions. EDS was used to ensure the uniform presence of nano Si3N4 and graphite in the cast. L9 orthogonal array method was chosen to conduct the experiments to study the effect of different applied loads (20, 30 and 40 N) and sliding distances (1, 2 and 3 km). The results showed that the respective wear rate and coefficient of friction (COF) decreased by 25% and 15% for hybrid composite when compared with those of Al-Si3N4 nanocomposite whereas the wear rate and COF of Al-Gr was found to be very minimal. The micro Vickers hardness of the hybrid composite was 14% more than that of the simple nanocomposite and there was not much notable variation for Al-Gr and Al-Si3N4 nanocomposite materials. Scanning electron microscope was used to analyze the worn surface and subsurface, from which it was noted that the predominant wear mechanisms observed were abrasive for nanocomposite and both abrasive and adhesive mechanism for hybrid composite. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and F-test were used to check the validity model and to determine the significant parameters affecting the wear rates.