Publication

Abstract : The main aim of this study was to determine the adhesive wear characteristics of heat treated LM 25/AlBsub2/sub metal matrix composites fabricated using liquid metallurgy route. The composite samples were solutionized at 525 °C and then water quenched. Aging was done at different temperatures (160 °C, 175 °C, 200 °C and 250 °C) for different aging time (4 hrs, 6 hrs, and 8 hrs). Brinell hardness tester was used to evaluate the hardness of all aged samples and maximum hardness (82 HRB) was observed in the sample aged for 6 hours at 250 °C. Those heat treated specimens were taken for further experimentation on wear characteristics. Pin-on-disc tribometer was used to analyse the dry sliding wear characteristics and the experiments were conducted based on Taguchi's Lsub16/sub orthogonal array by varying the process parameters of load (10 N, 20 N, 30 N and 40 N), sliding distance (400 m, 800 m, 1200 m and 1600 m) and sliding velocity (1 m/s, 2 m/s, 3 m/s and 4 m/s) for four levels. The dependence of wear rate on various parameters was found out using ANOVA and S/N ratio. The experimental result shows that sliding velocity (56.6 %) influences more on wear rate followed by load (23.09 %) and sliding distance (6.02 %). The regression equation was developed and the confirmatory result shows less error. The worn surfaces were analysed using Scanning Electron Microscope and severe delamination at the sliding velocity of 1m/s was found.