Effect of red mud and TiC on friction and wear characteristics of Al 7075 metal matrix composites

ABSTRACT

Aluminum matrix composites are preferred in various engineering fields such as automobile, marine and aerospace applications owing to their superior properties like high strength to weight ratio, and good wear resistance. The main challenge is to produce MMCs with high strength and wear resistance in a cost-effective manner by utilizing the industrial waste known as red mud is used as reinforcement. In the present study, Al7075/TiC and Al7075/red mud composite samples are fabricated separately after using liquid metallurgy route. During fabrication, the preheated (200-250°C) red mud and TiC reinforcement particles are added at different levels in the ranges from 3–12 wt % in steps of 3 wt% of aluminum. Dry sliding wear and friction characteristics of the fabricated MMCs are studied on a pin on disc wear and friction monitor with and without heat treatment condition. The results have shown improvement for both the specific strength and wear resistance of the developed samples when matched with the base alloy. Further, it is also witnessed that the Al7075/TiC has shown 8 and 19 percentage of improvement in the coefficient of friction and wear rate, respectively when compared with Al7075/red mud composite.

Abbreviation: MMCs: Metal Matrix Composites; TiC: Titanium Carbide; SEM: Scanning Electron Microscope; XRD: X-Ray Diffraction

KEYWORDS:

• Stir casting
• Al7075/TiC MMC
• Al7075/red mud MMC
• pin-on-disc apparatus

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chinmayee Kar

Chinmayee Kar received her M.Tech in Manufacturing Process and Systems from KIIT University, Bhubaneswar.  At present, she is a research scholar in the School of Mechanical Engineering, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, and Odisha-751024.

B. Surekha

B. Surekha received her BTech in Mechanical Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad-500085, India and MTech in Computer Integrated Manufacturing from National Institute of Technology, Warangal-506004, India in 2000 and 2003, respectively. At present, she is working as an Associate Professor(I) in the School of Mechanical Engineering, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha-751024. Her research interests include modelling and simulation of manufacturing systems and soft computing. She has published about 25 technical papers.