Experimental investigation on the wear behavior of low-cost composite made from industrial wastes

Purpose Aluminum alloy AA5083 is applicable in ship building, military, railway and industry because of its excellent properties like resistance to chemical and sea water attack. However, its performance is affected by weak wear resistance. Hence, this should be solved to improve the performance of AA5083 alloy in the aforementioned fields. The purpose of this research is to enhance the wear properties of AA5083 alloy. Design/methodology/approach In this research, AA5083 alloy was reinforced with industrial wastes such as red mud and granite particles using stir casting method. Totally, four types of composites were fabricated, namely, AA5083/3 Wt.% red mud (C1), AA5083/3 Wt.% granite (C2), AA5083/1 Wt.% red mud-2Wt.% granite (C3) and AA5083/2 Wt.% red mud-1Wt.% granite (C4). Wear properties such as mass loss and coefficient of friction (COF) were analyzed for different wear parameters. Further, the mechanical properties like hardness and tensile strength were investigated. Findings Results showed that the inclusion of reinforcement particles improved the wear and mechanical properties of AA5083 alloy (C0). The C2 sample displayed the maximum hardness of 87 HV and tensile strength of 317 MPa owing to the inclusion of 3 Wt.% granite particles. Furthermore, the wear study results showed that the C2 sample displayed the minimum mass loss and COF. It was concluded from this research that C2 sample could be a good candidate to be applicable in marine, military, railway and industrial applications with improved performance. Originality/value This work is original as the industrial waste is used as reinforcements in the performance improvement of AA5083 aluminum alloy.