Wear of Magnesium Composites with Continuous, Interconnected Wire Reinforcement

A previous study has shown that magnesium composites reinforced with continuous, interconnected wires of galvanized iron to about 5 vol% exhibits superior stiffness and hardness to pure magnesium, thus suggesting the suitability of the composites for tribological applications. This paper investigates the wear behaviour of these magnesium composites during dry sliding. Tests were carried out using a pin-on-disc configuration against a hardened tool-steel counterface at a sliding velocity of 1 m/s, within a load range of 4-30 N. The wire reinforcements generally result in better wear resistance of the composites over unreinforced magnesium, with the most significant improvements (about 2.7-fold) obtained under the lowest load of 4 N. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examinations of the worn composites reveal the dominant wear mechanisms to be oxidation under the lower loads, and delamination under the higher loads.