Experimental Investigation on Abrasive Wear Behavior of Functionally Graded Aluminum Composite

Functionally graded Al–Si12Cu/10 wt.% B₄C_p metal matrix composite (MMC) has been fabricated under stir casting process followed by horizontal centrifugal casting method. The casting of length 170 mm, outer diameter 160 mm, and thickness 16 mm was obtained under the centrifugal speed of 1000 rev min⁻¹. The microstructural evaluation was carried out on the surfaces at distance of 3, 6, 9, and 11 mm from the outer periphery of the casting to ensure the distribution of reinforcement particles, and the surfaces at same distance were tested for its hardness using microhardness tester. The microstructural results revealed that surface at a distance of 3 mm from the outer periphery has reinforcement concentration of 32% and surface at a distance of 11 mm has reinforcement concentration of 3%. The hardness of the surface was improved considerably according to the reinforcement concentration. The three-body abrasive wear test was conducted on the composite specimens as per L₁₆ orthogonal array for parameters such as the load, speed, time, and reinforcement concentration. Each parameter was varied for four levels and the optimum level of each parameter was found out through signal-to-noise ratio analysis using “smaller-the-better” characteristics. The signal-to-noise ratio analysis revealed that load was the dominant parameter on the abrasive wear behavior followed by reinforcement concentration, speed, and time. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) result indicates the parameter that affects the response significantly and results were agreed with signal-to-noise ratio analysis. The regression equation was developed and results were validated using confirmation experiments. The worn-out surfaces were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM) for observing the wear mechanism.