Effect of reinforcement volume fraction and size distribution on the tribological behavior of Al-composite/brake pad tribo-couple

Tribological behavior of aluminium matrix composite (AMC)/brake pad tribo-couple under dry sliding conditions was studied using Pin-on-Disc machine. Brake pad material was used as pins while the AMC formed the rotating disc. Series of experiments were performed to characterize the tribological nature of the tribo-couple. Load and sliding speeds were varied over a range to represent actual braking conditions in passenger cars. Effect of volume fraction and size distribution of reinforcement on wear and friction coefficient has been studied. It was observed that a heterogeneous tribo-layer was formed over the worn surfaces during the wear tests. Presence of tribo-layer was believed to cause two effects: acting as a lubricant layer and acting as a source of wear debris. Morphology and topography of worn surfaces and debris were studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM), electron probe micro analyzer (EPMA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. When the reinforcement in the matrix has wide size distribution, wear rate and friction coefficients are found to be higher compared to composite containing mono-size reinforcement.