Wear behaviour of hot forged SiC reinforced aluminium 6061Composite materials

ABSTRACT

The present work aims to investigate the effect of hot forging on the wear behaviour of aluminium alloy 6061 reinforced with silicon carbide (SiC) particles of size 25 to 30 µm. Forging of the specimens was done at a temperature of 430°C. The Al-SiC composites were prepared using stir casting technique. The weight fractions of reinforcement used were 2, 4 and 6 and the cast composites were forged for reduction ratios of 20%, 40% and 60%. The wear tests were conducted at a disc rotational speed of 800 rpm and loads of 30 N, 40 N and 50 N were used for sliding distances of 1000 m, 1500 m and 2000 m. The worn-out surfaces of the samples were analysed using scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the wear rate of the forged composites was lower compared to the unforged composites. Increasing the weight percentage of SiC particles in the matrix was found to enhance the wear resistance of the composite. It was observed that the wear rate increased with increasing load and the sliding distance.

KEYWORDS:

• Wear
• composites
• forging

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received from any source to carry out this study.

Notes on contributors

B.M. Girish

Dr. B.M. Girish did his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Mysore University in 1997. He is presently working as Professor and Head of the Mechanical Engineering department at Alliance College of Engineering and Design, Alliance University, Bangalore, India. He teaches subjects like Metal Forming, Materials Science and Metallurgy, Composite Materials, and Manufacturing Processes.  He pursues academic research in areas related to wear, corrosion, and mechanical properties evaluation of Metal Matrix Composites and advanced alloys. He has published several research papers in highly reputed international journals published by reputed publishers like Elsevier, ASM, IMechE, STLE, etc. He is also a reviewer of research papers for the Elsevier journals, Materials Science and Engineering A, Metallurgical Transactions, Journal of Nuclear Materials, and Journal of Alloys and Compounds. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of few international journals. He has supervised two Ph.D scholars. He is a life member of Tribology Society of India, and Materials Research Society of India.

B.P. Shivakumar

Dr. B.P. Shivakumar obtained his engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur 1n the year 1987. He obtained his M. Tech. degree in Production Engineering Systems Technology from Government BDT College of Engineering, Davanagere, Karnataka in the year 1993. Presently he is working as Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at JSS Academy of Technical Education, Bengaluru. He has a teaching experience of 32 years and teaches courses such as Composite materials, Operations Research, Operations Management, Engineering Metrology, Production Engineering, etc. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bengaluru in the year 2007. The title of research work is “Finite Element Methods in the Characterization of Mechanical and Thermal behavior of Metal Matrix Composites”. His research area includes Metal matrix composites, Job shop scheduling, Optimization Techniques, Project management. He published more than 25 papers in both national and international journals/conferences.

M.B. Hanamantraygouda

Dr. M.B. Hanamantraygouda is presently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology. Prior to this, he served as Lecturer from 2009 to 2013 in the same college. He has a teaching experience of 13 years and has been teaching courses such as Engineering Graphics, Mechanical Vibrations, Dynamics of Machinery, Materials Science, Manufacturing Process, Industrial Automation Non Traditional Machining, Kinematics of Machines, Experimental Stress Analysis, etc. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgavi in the year 2019. The title of research work is “Experimental Studies of Forging Effect on Particulate Reinforced Al/SiC Metal Matrix Composites”. His research area includes Metal matrix composites, Forging Effect and Forging stages, Mechanical Properties, Corrosion Analysis. He published more than 15 papers in both national and international journals/conferences.

B.M. Satish

Dr. B.M. Satish did his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Mysore University in 1999. He is presently working as Principal of APS College of Engineering Bangalore, India. He teaches subjects like Metal Forming, Materials Science and Metallurgy, Composite Materials, and Manufacturing Processes.  He pursues academic research in areas related to wear, corrosion, and mechanical properties evaluation of Metal Matrix Composites and advanced alloys. He has published several research papers in highly reputed international journals published by reputed publishers like Elsevier, ASM, IMechE, STLE, etc. He is a recipient of ‘Young Scientist Award’ from All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi.  He has supervised three Ph.D scholars.