The Tribological Behavior of Aluminum-matrix Composites Reinforced with Ceramic Particulates in Dry Sliding against a Semi metallic Frictional Material

The tribological behavior of Al alloy matrix composites reinforced with ceramic particulates (SiC p and Al 2O 3) in dry sliding against a semi metallic frictional material was investigated with a disk on block friction and wear tester. The worn surface morphologies of the composites and the counterpart semi metallic frictional material were observed with a scanning electron microscope. It has been found that the composites reinforced with SiC p are superior to the composites reinforced with Al 2O 3 in terms of the tribological behavior. The The composites reinforced with SiC p particulates of larger size and/or volume fraction show greatly increased wear resistance and slightly decreased friction coefficient. The particulate reinforced Al alloy matrix composites have wear rates as lowas 0.1% of the matrix alloy, which corresponds to largely decreased of the wear rate of the counterpart frictional material as well.