Characteristics of the Surface Topography and Tribological Properties of Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composite

Magdalena Niemczewska-Wójcik; Manickaraj Pethuraj; Marimuthu Uthayakumar; Mohd Shukry Abdul Majid

doi:10.3390/ma15010358

Characteristics of the Surface Topography and Tribological Properties of Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composite

Materials (Basel). 2022 Jan 4;15(1):358. doi: 10.3390/ma15010358.

Authors

Magdalena Niemczewska-Wójcik¹, Manickaraj Pethuraj², Marimuthu Uthayakumar^{3

4}, Mohd Shukry Abdul Majid⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Jana Pawla II 37, 31-846 Cracow, Poland.
² Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Younus College of Engineering and Technology, Kollam 691010, Kerala, India.
³ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Krishnankoil 626126, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁴ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Technology, University Malaysia Perlis, Perlis 02600, Malaysia.

Abstract

Due to their excellent synergistic properties, Aluminum Matrix Composites (AMC) have achieved a high degree of prominence in different industries. In addition to strength, the wear resistance of materials is also an important criterion for numerous applications. The wear resistance depends on the surface topography as well as the working conditions of the interacting parts. Therefore, extensive experiments are being conducted to improve the suitability of engineering materials (including AMC) for different applications. This paper presents research on manufactured aluminum metal matrix composites reinforced with 10 wt.% of Al₂SiO₅ (aluminum sillimanite). The manufactured and prepared samples were subjected to surface topography measurements and to tribological studies both with and without lubricant using a block-on-ring tester. Based on the results, analyses of the surface topography (i.e., surface roughness parameters, Abbott-Firestone curve, and surface defects) as well as of the tribological characteristics (i.a. friction coefficient, linear wear, and wear intensity) were performed. Differences in the surface topography of the manufactured elements were shown. The surface topography had a significant impact on tribological characteristics of the sliding joints in the tests where lubrication was and was not used. Better tribological characteristics were obtained for the surfaces characterized by greater roughness (determined on the basis of both the profile and surface texture parameters). In the case of tribological tests with lubrication, the friction coefficient as well as the wear intensity was significantly lower compared to tribological tests without lubrication. However, lower values of the friction coefficient and wear intensity were still recorded for the surfaces that were characterized by greater roughness. The obtained results showed that it is important to analyze the surface topography because surface characteristics influence tribological properties.

Keywords: aluminum matrix composite; block-on-ring tester; friction coefficient; linear wear; surface topography; tribological characteristics; wear intensity.