TITLE:
Tribological Behaviour of Aluminium/Alumina/Graphite Hybrid Metal Matrix Composite Using Taguchi’s Techniques
AUTHORS:
N. Radhika, R. Subramanian, S. Venkat Prasat
KEYWORDS:
Metal Matrix Composites, Stir casting, Taguchi’s techniques, Orthogonal array, Analysis of variance, wear behaviour.
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.10 No.5,
April
20,
2011
ABSTRACT: Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy (Al-Si10Mg) reinforced with alumina (9%) and
graphite (3%) fabricated by stir casting process was investigated. The wear and frictional
properties of the hybrid metal matrix composites was studied by performing dry sliding wear
test using a pin-on-disc wear tester. Experiments were conducted based on the plan of
experiments generated through Taguchi’s technique. A L27 Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data. Investigation to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and
sliding distance on wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process
was carried out using ANOVA and regression equations for each response were developed.
Objective of the model was chosen as ‘smaller the better’ characteristics to analyse the dry
sliding wear resistance. Results show that sliding distance has the highest influence followed
by load and sliding speed. Finally, confirmation tests were carried out to verify the
experimental results and Scanning Electron Microscopic studies were done on the wear
surfaces.