Influence of mechanical alloying process on structural, mechanical and tribological behaviours of CNT reinforced aluminium composites – A statistical analysis

Abstract

The mechanical and tribological properties of the Al/CNT composites could be controlled and improved by the method of its fabrication process. This research article deals with the optimization of mechanical and tribological properties of Al/CNT composites, which are fabricated using the mechanical alloying process with the different weight percentage of multi-walled CNT reinforcement. The phase change and the presence of CNT are identified using the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The influence of mechanical alloying process and the multi-walled CNT reinforcement on the mechanical, and tribological behaviours of the Al/CNT composites are studied. The optimal mechanical alloying process parameters and the weight percentage of multi-walled CNT reinforcement for the Al/CNT composite are identified using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM), which exhibits the better hardness, compressive strength, wear rate and Coefficient of Friction (CoF). The Al/CNT composite with 1.1 wt.% of CNT has achieved the optimal responses at the milling speed 301 rpm and milling time 492 minutes with the ball to powder weight ratio 9.7:1, which is 98% equal to the experimental result. This research also reveals that the adhesive wear is the dominant wear mechanism for the Al/CNT composite against EN31 stainless steel but the optimal Al/CNT composite with 1.1 wt.% of multi-walled CNT has experienced a mild abrasive wear.