Wear Behavior of Dual Particle Size (DPS) Zircon Sand Reinforced Aluminum Alloy

• Published in: Tribology letters Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 231 - 251
• Main Authors: Kumar, Suresh, Sharma, Vipin, Panwar, Ranvir Singh, Pandey, O. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.08.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aluminum alloys; Aluminum base alloys; Chemistry and Materials Science; Corrosion and Coatings; Disc machines; Hardness measurement; Materials Science; Microhardness; Nanotechnology; Nucleation; Original Paper; Particulate composites; Physical Chemistry; Reinforcement; Sand; Sand & gravel; Silicon; Surfaces and Interfaces; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Thin Films; Tribology; Wear mechanisms; Wear resistance; Zircon; Zircon sand; AMCs; Dual particle size; Composite; Stir casting
• ISSN: 1023-8883; 1573-2711
• DOI: 10.1007/s11249-012-9983-y

The present investigation aims to find the combined effect of coarse and fine size particle reinforcement of zircon sand in aluminum alloy LM13 on the wear behavior. The composites are fabricated by varying the reinforcement of fine and coarse size zircon sand particles and compared with the single size reinforcement. Coarse and fine particle zircon sand of 106–125 and 20–32-μm size, respectively, are used in this study. The wear test was carried out on pin-on-disc machine. Microhardness measurement was done for developed composites. Wear track and debris are analyzed by SEM to study the wear mechanism. Line profile and EDS analysis is also done to validate the microstructural results. Study reveals that a combination of 3 % fine and 12 % coarse particle reinforced composite exhibits better wear resistance while 3 % coarse and 12 % fine particle reinforcement decreases the wear resistance. It is also observed that zircon sand particles provide effective nucleation site for the eutectic silicon. Microstructural examination shows globular and finely distributed eutectic silicon in the vicinity of the reinforced particles.