Investigation on tribological properties of heat treatable aluminium-based alloys

BACKGROUND In this section, an investigation on tribological properties of Al-Sn-Cu-Si alloy were investigated under dry sliding condition. The aluminium alloy containing different composition was prepared using gravity die casting and their friction and wear properties was investigated at against EN65 steel at different hours (8, 16 and 24) for the ageing temperature of 170°C. Once alloy was prepared and tested under the same conditions to analyse the effect of addition of Sn-Si on the friction and wear behaviours. Before that, the microstructure of the alloy was investigated using optical microscopy and the hardness of this alloy was investigated using Rockwell Hardness testing machine. The hardness of the alloys increased with increasing silicon content, an alloy Al-Sn-Cu-Si, which exhibited the highest hardness was subjected to ageing heat treatment. The friction coefficients and wear rates were found to decrease with increasing temperature and amount of Sn and Si. Three distinct alloys were prepared by using electrical furnace and the samples of the Al-Sn-Cu-Si alloy was investigated in both as cast and heat-treated conditions were found to be superior to pure aluminium as far as their tribological properties are concerned and also the three distinct alloy results were compared.