Investigations on tribo-mechanical behaviour of Al-Si10-Mg/sugarcane bagasse ash/SiC hybrid composites

Abstract

The effect of mechanical and tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy (Al-Si10-Mg) with sugarcane bagasse ash and silicon carbide reinforced metal matrix composites were investigated. Al-Si10-Mg alloy reinforced with 9wt.% of treated sugarcane bagasse ash particles of size (< 75 µm) and 0wt.%, 3wt.%, 6wt.% and 9wt.% of silicon carbide particles of size (< 25 µm) were fabricated using the stir casting method. Morphological analysis was done using scanning electron microscopy to access the distribution of reinforcement particles in the matrix alloy. Tensile, hardness, and impact strengths were increased with an increase in weight fraction of SiC reinforcement particles in the aluminium alloy, while the ductility was decreased. Pin-on-disc dry sliding wear test was carried out with 10, 20 and 30 N loads with a sliding speed of 10 m·s−1 for a constant time period of 20 min to predict the wear behaviour of the developed composites. Worn surfaces of the wear-tested specimens and fracture morphology structure of the tensile-tested specimens were analysed. Results show that the composites reinforced with sugarcane bagasse ash and silicon carbide particles exhibit superior wear resistance.