Experimental Investigation of Wear and Frictional Properties of A356/SiC Metal Matrix Composite

The present work deals with the fabrication and tribological testing of an aluminium/SiC composite. Fabrication was done using two techniques; mechanical stir casting and electromagnetic stir casting. Metal matrix composite (MMC) was fabricated using aluminium as a matrix and SiC as reinforcement in varying weight percentages. The wear and frictional properties of the MMC were studied by performing dry sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester for both types of samples. Wear rate retards with the increase the percentage of reinforcement whereas it improves with the addition of normal force. At same time frictional coefficient upsurges by increasing the normal force and percentage of reinforcement. Increasing percentage of reinforcement and using electromagnetic stir casting process obtained the higher frictional coefficient and lower wear rate.