Estimation of Tribological Performance of a Hybrid Al-Si/Al2O3/ MoS2 Composite Via Taguchi Orthogonal Array

This work illustrated the tribological performance of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2 /alumina (Al2O3) particles are rei nforced in Al-Si matrix, and prepared Al-Si/2MoS(2), Al-Si/12 Al2O3/2MoS(2) composites via stir casting. Mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength, density, and tribological efficiency of composites were identified. Mechanical properties of composites are observed to increase with weight percentage MoS2 and Al2O3 increase. The Al-Si/ 12Al(2)O(3) composite exhibited better hardness and tensile strength. The tribological experiments are formulated using the Taguchi approach (L27). Tribological responses such as wear rate and friction coefficient are controlled primarily by three factors such as sliding velocity, sliding distance, and contact pressure. For Al-Si/2MoS(2 )and Al-Si/ 12 Al2O3/ 2MoS(2) composites, pressure is the most influential parameter on wear rate. Sliding velocity is also a factor affecting the friction coefficient for Al-Si/2MoS(2), revealed by Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The surface morphology of worn-out samples is examined using SEM and results are corroborated with findings.