On modeling the abrasive wear characteristics of in situ Al–12%Si/TiC composites

In this work the abrasive wear characteristics of in situ synthesized Al–12%Si/TiC composites were investigated based on the plan of full factorial design. During the experiment applied load, sliding distance and weight percentage of reinforcement considered as input variables and weight loss and coefficient of friction as responses. The experimental results revealed that the sliding distance and weight percentage of TiC had relatively higher influence on coefficient of friction. On the other hand, the applied load had relatively higher influence on the weight loss. The developed regression equations for predicting the weight loss and coefficient of friction were validated with a number of test cases and it has been observed that the percentage error for both responses is less than ± 10%. It indicates that there is a close agreement between the predicted and measured results. Multi-response optimization technique was also employed to optimize the control factors.

► Al–12%Si/TiC composites were in situ fabricated with varying wt.% of TiC.
► Abrasive wear experiments of the composites were conducted using full factorial design.
► The weight loss and coefficient of friction were the outputs.
► The regression model for the process was developed and validated with test cases.
► Multi-response optimization of the abrasive wear process was also undertaken.