Trans. Indian Inst. Met. Vol.57, No. 4, August 2004, pp.

325-334

TP 1897

DEVELOPMENT OF ALUMINIUM ALLOY COMPOSITES FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

S. Das
Metal Composite Group, Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Bhopal 462 026 (MP), India E-mail : sdas@rrlbpl.org (Received 1 March 2004 ; in revised form 20 May 2004)

ABSTRACT
This paper describes the wear behaviour such as sliding wear, abrasive wear, erosion-corrosion etc. of Al alloySiC composite. Attempts have been made to make prototype components out of Al-SiC composites for automobile and mineral processing industries such as brake drum, cylinder block, refrax apex insert etc. The performance evaluation of the prototype components in actual field condition showed encouraging results.

1. INTRODUCTION
Aluminium alloy composites (AACs) are becoming potential engineering materials offering excellent combination of properties such as high specific strength, high specific stiffness, electrical and thermal conductivities, low coefficient of thermal expansion and wear resistance 1-5. Because of their excellent combination of properties, AACs are being used in varieties of applications in automobile, mining and mineral, aerospace, defense and other related sectors 1-5. In the automobile sector, Al composites are used for making various components such as brake drum, cylinder liners, cylinder blocks, drive shaft etc. In aerospace industries, Al composites are used essentially in structural applications such as helicopter parts (parts of the body, support for rotor plates, drive shafts), rotor vanes in compressors and in aero-engines 6, 7. Lightweight body armour plate, track shoes of vehicles are also tried out for defense sectors 8. In general, Al composites are classified into two major groups depending upon the aspect ratio of the reinforcements. In the first category, the aspect ratio (l/d, l : length, d : diameter) is varied in the range of 100 10,000 in which, fibres are reinforced in metal matrix to achieve properties required for structural applications. In the second category, the aspect ratio of the reinforcement is in the range of 1-5 in which, the reinforcements are equiaxed in shape (particle/ whiskers); such type of Al composites are in great

interest in tribological application. The present paper is based on the second category of composite in which, hard ceramic particles, such as SiC, are reinforced in Al matrix and these composites are used in an environment where wear resistance is of prime consideration in addition to the weight saving. The components, which are subjected to severe wear, are mainly due to sliding action, abrasive, erosion and erosion-corrosion. Extensive studies have been carried out to assess the Al composites against various wear situation under varying triboenvironment and tribo-conditions. During the sliding action, the hard ceramic particles protrude the composite surface and resist wear of material. The sliding wear resistance of the composites with respect to that of alloy varies with the test parameters 9-12. Alpas and Zhang 10 noted three distinct regions of wear as a function of load. In the low load regime, the type of wear is designated as oxidative wear in which the oxide Al surface layer is removed during sliding process. In the medium load regimes, the wear of material is designated as mild wear in which the loss of material is dictated by asperity-to-asperity contact. However, in high load regime, the wear of material is controlled essentially by subsurface deformation and fracturing of the surface as proposed by Suh 13. In general, it is observed that the wear of the composite is reported less as compared to that of the alloy.

TRANS. INDIAN INST. MET., VOL. 57, NO. 4, AUGUST 2004

Reinforcement of hard particles in Al matrix protects the matrix surface against destructive action of the abrasive during the abrasive wear process. The abrasive wear resistance of the composite is enhanced by several factors due to reinforcement of hard particles. The factors like shape, content of reinforcement and rack angle of the abrasive affect the wear behaviour 14 - 18. Wang and Hutchings 19 reported that coarse abrasive particles and high volume fraction of reinforcement results in decreased wear resistance, which is attributed mainly due to fragmentation of reinforcement phase. On the other hand, it was mentioned that the wear resistance of composites increases with decrease in the abrasive particle size. In the case of Al 6061 SiC composite containing 20 vol.% of reinforcement, the transition in the wear behaviour was observed when the size of abrasive was less than 20 m. Further, Lin and Leu 20 reported that the abrasion resistance of Al-Zn-Mg-SiC composites controlled by ageing temperature and duration rather than ageing hardness, over-ageing of composite resulted in achieving the best abrasion resistance. This was explained on the basis of anchoring and contraction mechanism. Aluminium composites have been proved useful in making marine and mineral processing machinery components experiencing erosion-corrosion wear in practice. Limited studies have been carried out in studying the erosion-corrosion behaviour at different experimental factors like speed of rotation, slurry composition, angle of impingement, size of erodent etc. 21-25. Studies on sand slurry erosion behaviour have reported that Al composites exhibited higher erosion resistance than their matrix alloy at shallow angle of impact 26. However, at normal impact angle, reverse wear trends was observed. At higher angle of impingement, the possibility of fracturing of the reinforcement is more and results in enhancing the rate of wear 27. Erosion-corrosion behaviour of ZnAl alloy Al2O3 composite depicted that composite showed better wear resistance than the alloy. Wear rate increased when the sand concentration increases and than decreased when the sand concentration is increased more than 60%. In the present paper, attempts have been made to synthesis Al-SiC composite by solidification process. Detailed sliding, abrasive and erosive-corrosive wear have been studied and the results are presented. Using Al-SiC composites, a number of automobile and mineral processing

components were made, field assesed and the results are presented in this paper.

2. EXPERIMENTAL
2.1 Materials Al-Si (BS: LM13) alloy was used as the matrix material. The alloy contains 11.00 wt.% Si, 1.00 wt.% Mg, 1.50 wt.% .Ni, 1.00 wt.% Cu, 0.80 wt.% Fe, 0.50 wt.% Mn and balance was Al. LM13 10 wt.% SiCp composite was prepared by dispersing hard particles in Aluminum matrix using stir-casting technique. The steps involved in preparing the composite were melting the alloy, stirring the melt using a mechanical stirrer, dispersing the silicon carbide particles in the vortex of the melt and solidifying the composite melt in a predetermined cast iron mold. The silicon carbide particles (size: 50-80 m) were used as reinforcement for synthesizing LM1310 wt.% SiC composite. Al-Si alloy melt was also cast in the same mold. 2.2 Microstructure For microstructural investigation, the cast and heattreated alloy and composite were mechanically polished using standard metallographic practices, etched with Kellers reagent and observed in a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). 2.3 Sliding Wear Behaviour Dry and lubricated sliding wear tests of LM13 alloy and Composites were carried out using Pin-on-disc wear test apparatus under varying applied pressure upto a sliding distance of 5000 m or seizure which ever occurs earlier. The tests were carried out at a sliding speed of 1.2 m/s. The disc was made of hardened EN24 steel having a hardness of 450 Hv. The wear rate was computed from weight loss measurement (accuracy level of 0.001 mg). Frictional heating and coefficient of friction were recorded from the digital display interfaced with the wear test machine. During lubricated wear tests, continuous lubrication was provided with the use of SAE-40 lubricated oil at the wear track. 2.4 Abrasive Wear Two body abrasive wear tests were conducted on 40 35 5 mm3 rectangular specimens using a Suga Abrasion Tester (Model : NUSI, Japan) at different

326

DAS : DEVELOPMENT OF ALUMINIUM ALLOY COMPOSITES FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

applied loads (1N 7N). Emery papers, containing SiC particles, (size: 80 mm) were cut into exact dimensions and fixed on a wheel (diameter: 50 mm; thickness: 12 mm), to serve as the abrasive medium. The specimen was fixed with a locking arrangement against the abrasive medium. The load over the specimen was applied through cantilever mechanism. The wear rates were calculated by weight loss methods. The loss of weight of the specimen, before and after each test, was measured using a microbalance. It is observed that the abrasive particles, in the emery paper, blunt due to abrasive action. 2.5 Erosive-Corrosive Wear The erosioncorrosion tests of metallographically polished cylindrical disc samples (diameter : 16 mm; height : 5 mm) of the matrix alloy and composites were carried out using rotating sample test method. The specimens were kept at a radial distance of 75 mm from the center of the disc in such a way that

the circular cross section of the sample made normal impact with the slurry. Tests were performed at three different speeds (700, 900 and 1100 rpm) in three different slurries namely 3.5% NaCl, 3.5% NaOH and synthetic mine water plus varying amount of sand (20 wt.%, 30 wt.% and 40 wt.%.). 2.6 Component Development Automobile component such as brake drum confirming to the dimensions of Nishan Jonga Jeep is prepared using Al - 10% SiC composite through gravity casting in a cast iron permanent die. A metallic die was prepared conforming to the dimensions of Jonga jeep and the brake drums were prepared. The brake drums were tested as per IS specification at VRDE, Ahmednagar and Vehicle Factory, Jabalpur. The fade test and the rise in temperature were found out. The brake drums were fitted in Modified Nissan Jonga Jeep and their performance was evaluated for a period of two years running. The Al - 15% SiC composite

Fig. 1 : Microstructure of Al-Si (LM13 alloy) shows (a) the dendrites of aluminum and eutectic silicon in the interdendritic regions and around the dendrites (b) sharp-edges plate-shaped Si in Al matrix (c) LM13 - 15 wt.% SiC composite shows uniform distribution of SiC particles in Aluminum matrix (d) LM13 - 15 wt.% SiC composite shows good interfacial bonding between aluminum matrix and silicon carbide particle

327

TRANS. INDIAN INST. MET., VOL. 57, NO. 4, AUGUST 2004

was used to make refrex apex insert and were tested in D-15 cyclone at Rampura Agucha Mines of Hindustan Zinc Limited.

(a)

3. RESULTS
3.1 Microstructure The microstructure of Al-Si (LM13) alloy, in as cast condition, shows the dendrites of aluminum and eutectic silicon in the interdendritic regions and around the dendrites (Fig. 1(a)). A higher magnification micrograph of LM13 alloy in as cast condition shows sharp-edges plate-shaped silicon in aluminum matrix (Fig. 1(b)). The micrograph of LM13 - 15 wt.% SiC composite, in as cast condition, shows uniform distribution of SiC particles in Aluminum matrix (Fig. 1(c)). A higher magnification micrograph of LM1315 wt% SiC composite shows good interfacial bonding between aluminum matrix and silicon carbide particle (Fig. 1(d)). 3.2 Sliding Wear The wear rate as a function of applied pressure for the alloy and composites are shown in Fig. 2(a). It is evident from this figure that the wear rate increases monotonically with increase in applied pressure. In both the cases, alloy and composites, the wear rate initially increases at slower rate with applied pressure. At a critical applied pressure the wear rate shoots up very rapidly. This critical pressure is termed as transition pressure at which the wear mechanisms may be changing from mild oxidative type of wear to delaminating type. The transition pressure is the indication of tending towards seizure condition. At seizure, the wear rate becomes very high. It is noted that the transition pressure in the alloy and composites are 0.13 MPa and 0.34 MPa respectively. This figure also indicates that the seizure pressure in composites is significantly higher than that of the alloy. The alloy seizes at a pressure of 0.26 MPa where as the composite seizes at a pressure of 0.65 MPa. This signifies that addition of SiC leads to improvement in seizure pressure of alloy by 2.5 times. Maximum temperature rise at an applied pressure of 0.13 MPa for the alloy and composite is shown as bar chart in Fig. 2(b). It is evident from this figure that at a fixed applied pressure of 0.13 MPa alloy
Fig.2 : (a) The wear rate as a function of applied pressure of LM13 alloy and LM13-SiC Composite (b) Maximum temperature rise during sliding wear of LM13 alloy and LM13 SiC composite (applied pressure : 0.13 MPa)

(b)

suffers from higher temperature rise as compared to the composite. The maximum temperature noted in case of alloy and composites are 85oC and 70oC respectively. The seizure temperature of the alloy and composites are noted to be 110oC and 165oC respectively. This signifies that composites can withstand higher temperature rise before seizure. Similar kind of trend is noted under lubricated wear. It is noted from this figure that the maximum temperature rise in the alloy and composites are 48oC and 35oC respectively when the tests were conducted at a pressure of 1.5 MPa. This might be due to the presence of lubricating oil at the contacting surfaces. Coefficient of friction for the alloy and composites at an applied pressure of 0.13 MPa under dry and lubricating conditions and at a pressure of 1.5 MPa under dry and lubricating conditions are noted to be 0.72 & 0.75 and 0.09 & 0.02 respectively. This signifies that at dry and lubricated sliding conditions, composite and alloy exhibits almost same coefficient of friction.

328

DAS : DEVELOPMENT OF ALUMINIUM ALLOY COMPOSITES FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

3.3 Abrasive Wear Effect of load on the wear rate of LM13-alloy and LM13-SiC composite, at abrasive size of 80 m and after a sliding distance of 108 m, is shown in Fig. 3(a). It shows that the wear rate of alloy and composites increases with the increase in load. It is noted that the wear rate of LM13 alloy reduced significantly with the addition of SiC particle in Al alloy. For example, the wear rate of LM13 - 10wt.% SiC composite was found to be 4.5 x 10-11 m3/m at a load of 1N, and it increased to 27.65 x 10-11 m3/ m at a load of 7N. Similarly in the case of LM13 15 wt.% SiC composite, the wear rate at a load of 3N, recorded to be around 12.5 x 10-11 m3/m and it increases to 24.8 x 10-11 m3/m when the load was increased to 7N.
(a)

The effect of abrasive size on the wear rate of LM13 alloy and LM13 - 10 and 15 wt.% SiC composites, at an applied load of 7N, is shown in Fig. 3(b). It may be noted that the wear rate of LM13 alloy and LM13 - 10 and 15 wt.% SiC composites, is more or less same when the abrasive size is in the range of 40 to 60 m. However, when the abrasive size is increased to 80 m, the wear rate of alloy and composites increased drastically. This may be the transition in wear mechanism when the abrasive size is increased from 60 m to 80 m. The abrasive wear mechanism maps of alloy and composites, as a function of abrasive size and load are constructed using the following steps : (i) measuring of wear rate of alloy and composites as a function of load and abrasive size (ii) identification of wear mechanism based on wear data (iii) pointing the wear rate of the sample (iv) draw boundary lines to differential areas in the figures corresponding to specific wear mechanism. The wear mechanism map of as-cast LM13 alloy is shown in Fig. 4(a). It represents that the mild wear is prevailing even at abrasive size of 80 m and at a load of 1N. But severe wear is noted at an abrasive size of 40 m and at a load of 7N. A triangular region formed by AA and BB lines is corresponding to transition zone representing mixed wear mechanism. The wear mechanism map of as cast LM13 alloy - 10 wt.% SiC composite (Fig. 4(b)) exhibited mild wear even upto a abrasive size of 60 m and at a load of 3N. The wear mechanism map of LM13 - 15 wt.% SiC composite (Fig. 4(c)) shows that for a considerably wide range of applied load and abrasive size, mild wear is prevailing and the transition zone is found to be very narrow. At extreme condition i.e. at 7N load and 80 m abrasive size, severe wear is taking place. 3.4 Erosive-Corrosive Wear The variation of erosive-corrosive wear rate of LM13 alloy, LM13 10% SiC and LM13 15% SiC composite as a function of sliding distance in NaCl + 30% sand slurry is shown in Fig. 5(a). It is evident from this figure that the wear rate of all the materials decreased with sliding distance to approach to a more or less stable value. However the wear rate of 10% SiC composite increased initially and then decreased to a stable value. It is also observed that the alloy exhibited greater wear rate in this media compared to

(b)

Fig. 3 : (a) Effect of applied load on the abrasive wear rate of LM13 alloy and LM13- SiC composite (b) Effect of abrasive size on the wear rate of LM13 alloy and LM13 - SiC composite

329

TRANS. INDIAN INST. MET., VOL. 57, NO. 4, AUGUST 2004

Fig. 4 : Abrasive wear mechanism maps of Al-Si (LM13) alloy and LM13-SiC composite showing regimes of wear mechanism : (a) LM13 alloy (b) LM13-10 wt.% SiC composite (c) LM13-15 wt.% SiC composite

composites. Amongst the composites, the Al - 10% SiC composite exhibited higher wear rate compared to Al - 15 % SiC composite. Figure 5(b) shows the variation of wear rate of these materials in acidic medium containing 30% of sand. In this medium, the alloy experienced significantly greater wear rate compared to both the composites. Amongst the composites, Al - 10% SiC composite experienced greater wear rate as compared to 15% SiC composite. Further the wear rate of the alloy approached to a peak value and then decreased to attain a stable value in contradiction to what was observed in NaCl media. However, the wear rates of composites decreased monotonously with sliding

distance and no stable regime was observed. Further these materials experienced marginally lower wear rate compared to NaCl media. After a sliding distance of 763 km the wear rates of LM13 alloy LM13 10% SiC composite and LM13 - 15% SiC composite were found as 31 x 10-15 m3/m, 21 x 10-15 m3/m, 18 x 10-15 m3/m respectively. Wear rate of these materials as a function of sliding distance in NaCl slurry containing varying concentrations of sand (0 - 40%) is shown in Fig. 6(a). The effect of changing slurry composition is clearly evident in this figure. It is noted from this figure that irrespective of the material, the wear rate increases as the sand concentration is increased from

330

DAS : DEVELOPMENT OF ALUMINIUM ALLOY COMPOSITES FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

Fig. 6 : Effect of Sand Concentration on the Erosion-Corrosion Behavior of LM13 alloy and LM13 SiC composite (a) Marine Environment (b) Acidic Environment

Fig. 5 : Effect of Reinforcement on the Erosion-Corrosion Behavior of LM13 alloy and LM13 SiC composite in (a) NaCl medium (b) Acidic medium

0 - 40%. It is also evident from this figure that the alloy exhibited higher wear rate compared to that of the composites irrespective of the sand concentration. Amongst the composites, at the stable regime, Al 10% SiC composite exhibited higher wear rate at all sand concentrations compared to Al - 15% SiC composite. Figure 6(b) shows the variation of wear rate of these materials with sliding distance in acidic slurry containing different concentrations of sand. It is observed that in this medium also the wear rate increased as the sand concentration is increased irrespective of the material. Further the alloy exhibited higher wear rate compared to the composite at all sand concentrations (20, 30, 40%) except for pure solution containing no suspended particles (0% sand). Similarly the Al - 10% SiC composite exhibited

higher wear rate compared to Al - 15% composite for all sand concentrations ranging from 20 - 40%. In case of pure solution the trend was vice versa, i.e. composites exhibited higher wear rate compared to the alloy with Al - 15% SiC composite exhibiting highest wear rate. Thus the improvements in the wear resistance exhibited by Al - 10% SiC and Al - 15% SiC composites were 10%, 49% and 33% respectively and 27%, 68% and 49% respectively when the sand concentrations were 20%, 30% and 40% respectively. 3.5 Al Composite Component Development 3.5.1 Development of Automobile Components Attempts have been made to develop few prototype automobile components such as brake drums/discs and cylinder blocks for four-wheeler as well as for two wheelers. Taking strong feed back from FEM designing/studies AMCs have been synthesized for Brake drums (Fig. 7(a)) and the cylinder blocks (Fig. 7(b)). The brake drums for modified Nishan Jonga Jeep (for defence), Tata Sumo, Maruti Omni, Bajaj Auto and cylinder blocks confirming to the dimensions of Bajaj Auto have been successfully cast and machined to the required dimensions. One set of brake drums for rear and front wheels have been fitted in the Nishan Jonga Jeep and it ran successfully for several

331

TRANS. INDIAN INST. MET., VOL. 57, NO. 4, AUGUST 2004

(a)

from Vehicle Factory, Jabalpur stated that the brake drums worked satisfactorily without any difficulty. This work was sponsored by DRDO. 3.5.2 Development of Refrex Apex Insert After detailed observation of the slurry erosioncorrosion behaviour, abrasive wear behaviour and mechanical properties, it is thought that AMCs could be the promising material for the mineral industries where the components are subjected to severe wear and corrosion. In this direction attempts have been made to develop a component namely refrex apex insert (Fig. 8) used in the hydrocyclone using AMCs. Under the project sponsored jointly by DST, DOM and CSIR, a set of refrex apex insert for D-15 hydocyclones of Rampura Agucha Mines of Hindustan Zinc Ltd, are cast and machined to the required dimensions. These components are fitted in D-15 Hydrocyclones at Rampura-Agucha Mine and its performances are monitored. It is observed that these hydrocyclones worked for 1200 hours, which are equivalent or better than the performance of the existing Gum-Rubber components. While analyzing the cost of the component, it is found that the composite apex would be cheaper than the existing one.

(b)

Fig. 7 : (a) Brake drum of Nissan Jonga Jeep (b) Cylinder block for Bajaj Auto

4. DISCUSSION
Aluminium matrix composites are designed to have the toughness of the alloy matrix and the hardness, stiffness and strength of hard ceramic reinforcements. As a result composite materials exhibits a good combination of strength and toughness. In addition, composite exhibits good thermal conductivity and less thermal expansion coefficient. This makes the composite materials more thermally stable. The addition of ceramic reinforcements leads to strengthening of the alloy due to following facts: higher dislocation density due to the existence of thermal residual stress (because of significant difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the matrix and reinforcement), (ii) elastic and plastic incompatibility between the matrix and reinforcement which leads to interaction stress, (iii) resistance to flow of the matrix material. These phenomena lead to higher high temperature strength. As a result composite could be used at much higher temperature as compared to that of the alloy. At higher

Fig. 8 : Refrex Apex Insert for D-15 hydrocyclone

thousands hours without any problem. The P-type and N-type tests of the brake drums have been conducted at VRDE, Ahmednagar. The test results show that the braking efficiency of AMC-brake drum is around 20% higher than that of the cast iron brake drum; while the weight reduction is around 60%. Additionally, the temperature rise in AMC-brake drum (97C) is considerably less as compared to that of the cast iron (147C) brake drum. The report

332

DAS : DEVELOPMENT OF ALUMINIUM ALLOY COMPOSITES FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

temperature, the hard ceramic phase protect grain boundary sliding and thus prevent easy flow of material. In view of these facts, attempts have been made to use composites in several engineering applications. In particulate composites, ceramic particles either pushed by the solidification front to the last freezing eutectic phase or get trapped in the interdendritic region or at the primary dendrites depending on the size of particles, size of dendrites and cooling rates. In fact, it is strongly dictated by the alloy composition and processing parameters. In the present composite systems, particles are more or less uniformly distributed in the matrix and eutectic silicon phases are surrounding the particles. The interface between the particle and the metallic matrix is found reasonably good. The wear of materials primarily depends on interfacial strength and the distribution of particles. In addition, the SiC particles remain protruded over the specimen surface. Thus when the composite surface comes in contact with the other surface, the effective contact is controlled by these protruded particles. Thereby the protruded particles lead to less nominal contact between the two counter surfaces. In fact, in composites, these SiC particles being very hard and remains protruded over the specimen surface protect the matrix alloy from different types of wear such as sliding, abrasion, erosion-corrosion etc. As a result, composites exhibit considerably higher wear resistance as compared to the alloy. The SiC particles not only improve the strength of the alloy but also resist plastic flow of the matrix material at high temperature. In fact these particles help in retaining strength of the alloy at higher temperature. The addition of SiC particles also decreases sticking and adhesion tendency with the counter surface. Additionally, because of less contact and considerably good thermal conductivity, temperature rise in composite at affixed applied load and sliding speed is less as compared to the alloy. All these factors lead to improvement in seizure pressure of the alloy due to particle additions. In case of erosion-corrosion wear two types of wear mechanisms are simultaneously occurring on the specimen surface: the corrosion and erosion. The galvanic corrosion, preferably at the particle-matrix interface is expected to give higher corrosive wear as compared to the alloy. But the area covered, preferably by nobler ceramic phase, is considerably

high in composite, which leads to reduction in corrosion. These two counter facts may lead to almost comparable corrosion rate in alloy and composite. But during erosion a considerable amount of material gets removed either by abrasive types of wear or by impact type of wear. SiC particles improve wear resistance of the alloy against both these types of wear. It is further observed that erosive-corrosive wear is primary controlled by the erosive wear. Thus, the composites perform superior to the alloy under erosive-corrosive environment. The above discussions, in general, show that the composites have superior wear resistance as compared to the alloy in most of the tribo-environments. These lead to the development of wear resistance components for automobile and mining applications. Regional Research Laboratory, Bhopal has developed few Al composite components and their performance was evaluated in actual field conditions. The field trial results were quite encouraging and suggested to carry out further development for commercial exploitation.

5. CONCLUSIONS
The aluminum alloy hard particle composite can successfully be synthesized by solidification process (stir casting or vortex technique). Aluminium composite so developed exhibit uniform distribution of the particle in the matrix and good interface bonding between the ceramic phase and the metallic matrix. Aluminium composite provides higher wear resistance than those of the base alloys in all tribo-conditions. In case of high stress abrasive wear, the improvement is noted to be more at low load and finer abrasive size. Beyond a critical load and abrasive size, the composite exhibits more or less same wear rate to that of base alloy. Wear rate increases almost linearly with the applied load. Composites exhibit improved wear resistance and seizure pressure as compared to the alloy under both dry and lubricated sliding wear. Further, frictional heating and coefficient of friction are noted to be considerably less in composite as compared to that in the alloy. The corrosion resistance of the composite is comparable to the base alloy irrespective of the corrosive media. As the erosive corrosive wear is

333

TRANS. INDIAN INST. MET., VOL. 57, NO. 4, AUGUST 2004

dominated by erosive wear, the erosive-corrosive wear rate of the composite is noted to be less than that of alloy. The mechanical, tribological and electrochemical properties of composite makes it a potential material for automobile and related engineering applications. Several automobile components like brake drums and cylinder blocks and engineering components like refrax apex insert for D-15 hydro cyclones are made out of Al-SiC composite. This demonstrates the possibility of casting of Al-composite in intricate shape of thinner section also (Cylinder blocks). The performance evaluation of these components in actual operating conditions demonstrated that the composite components have the potential to replace the existing components. Cost analysis of these components showed that these components could be exploited commercially.

6. 7. 8. 9.

Miracle D, JOM (April, 2001) 12. Rawal S, JOM (April 2001) 14. Nichols J, (April 2001) JOM 18. Noguchi M, and Fukizawa; Adv. Mater. Process., 143 (6) (1993) 20.

10. Alpas A T and Zhang J, Scripta Metall, 26 (1992) 505. 11. Alpas A T and Zhang J, Mater. Sci. Eng. A161 (1993) 273. 12. Pan Y M, Fine M E and Gheng H S, Scripta Metall, 24 (1990) 1341. 13. Suh N P, Fundamentals of Trobology, Ed: N.P. Suh and N Saka, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 443. 14. ZumGahr K H, Met. Prog, 116 (1979) 4. 15. Hutchings I M, Chem. Engg. Sci. 42 (1987) 869. 16. Kulik T, Kosel T H, Yu V, Proc. Int. Conf. Wear Mater. Ed. K.C. Ludema. USA Denver, ASME. 1 (1989) 23. 17. Jain-main T, Ye-Ying S, Hua-Ji Z Chingan Z, Zianwu X., Tribo. Int., 18 (1985) 101. 18. Axen N, ZumGhar K H, Wear 157 (1992) 189. 19. Wang A G, and Hutchings I M, Mater. Sci. Technol. 5 (1989) 71. 20. Lin S.J. and Liu K Shung, Wear 121 (1988) 1-14. 21. Modi O P, Prasad B K, Dasgupta Rupa, Jha A K and Mondal D P, Mat. Sci. Tech. 15 (1999) 933. 22. Das S, Mondal D P, Dasgupta R, Prasad B K, Wear 236 (1999) 295. 23. Tomilson W J, Mathews S J, J.Mater. Sci. Lett., 13 (1994) 170. 24. Delius R L, Surbramanian C, Yellup J M, Wear 203204 (1997) 119. 25. Turenne S, Simrod S, Fiest M, Wear 149 (1991) 187. 26. Goretta K C, Wu W, Routbort J L, Rohatgi P K in P.K.Rohatgi, P.K.Blau, C.S.Yust, Tribology of Composite Materials (eds.), ASM International, OH, (1990) 147. 27. Hutchings I M, Wang A, Inst. Phy. Conf. Ser. 111 (1990) 91.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank Dr. N. Ramakrishnan, Director, Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Bhopal for encouragement and granting permission to publish this paper. Author acknowledges the financial support received from Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Def. R & D Organisation, Dept. of Mines, and Dept. of Science & Technology. I would like to acknowledge the support of many of my colleagues who have contributed to this work over the last fifteen years. I am thankful to Dr. D.P. Mondal, Dr. Sunita Sawla, Mrs. Y.L. Saraswathi, Shri R.N. Rao, Shri Rajendra Gupta for their help in preparing the manuscript.

REFERENCES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Lloyd D J, Int. Met. Review, 39 (1994) 1, 1994. Brian Ferry, and Glyn Janes, MMC, Elsevier Science Publishers Limited, 42. Rohatgi P K, Asthana R, Das S, Int. Met. Review, 31 (3)(1986), 115-119. Anthony Kelly, Comprehensive Composites Material, 3 MMC, Carl Zweben (eds) 701-716. Rohatgi P K, Cast Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite, JOM (April, 1991), 35.

334