Experimental tribological and mechanical behavior of aluminium alloy 6061 composites incorporated ceramic particulates using Taguchi analysis

Aluminium metal-matrix composites are broadly employed in industries like aerospace, marine, automobile-sector, and many others, generating a broad research interest. They are preferred for their high strength and low wear rate. This research work is mainly directed towards the fabrication of two types of metal-matrix composite materials using aluminium-alloy 6061(AA6061) as the matrix material and incorporating aluminium oxide (Al2O3), aluminium nitride (AlN), and silicon carbide (SiC) as a reinforcement material. AA6061 has been reinforced with Al2O3 and SiC particulates in AS series composites, while AA series composites, AA6061 has been reinforced with Al2O3 and AlN particulates. This hybrid metal composite was constructed using the stir-casting method. These hybrid composites have been investigated for their physical and mechanical characteristics, viz. density, hardness, impact strength, void content, flexural strength, and tensile strength following the ASTM standards. Tribological characteristics of these hybrid composites were performed by Pin-on-disc (POD) tribometer. Taguchi’s design of experimental technique was applied taking four factors viz. composition, sliding-velocity (SV), sliding-distance (SD), and load, and each having 4 levels. ANOVA was employed to find out meaningful parameters. SEM analysis of worn-surface was executed to find out the dominant wear mechanism. Experimental density was highest for AS42, and AA42 composites and void content were lowest for the same. Mechanical properties viz. density, hardness, impact strength, void content, flexural strength, and tensile strength were higher than the base alloy. From the response table of Taguchi analysis of AS and AA composite, the load factor significantly impacted the specific wear rate (SWR) to follow filler content (FC). It can be followed from the ANOVA table for AS composite that the load factor had a magnificent impact on the SWR. The SV and SD show no significant effect on SWR.