A new composite designed to resist wear

•Nacre powder is used as reinforcement phase in the aluminum matrix composite for the first time.•The hardness of composite increases with the concentration of nacre powder.•Wear resistance of the composite is remarkably improved compared to pure aluminum.

Nacre is known for its superior mechanical properties due to its uniquely interlocked-layered structures. In this study, a new composite containing nacre in an Al matrix was fabricated. The composite was produced using powder metallurgy method followed by a heat treatment. Mechanical properties were tested using SEM, micro hardness tester and profilometer. Results showed that the hardness of the composites increased as the concentration of nacre increased in the composite. The hardness of a composite containing 20 wt% of nacre increased by 40% compared to pure Al. Tribological evaluation indicates that samples with 1 wt% and 5 wt% of nacre exhibited the best wear resistance. The wear mechanism changed from adhesive to abrasive wear with varying concentration of nacre. This research demonstrates that the design of mechanical properties and the control of wear mechanisms is possible through the optimization of hybrid configuration. This approach can be adapted to most conventional materials.