Influence of silicon nitride, hafnium carbide and molybdenum disulfide to the wear behavior of Al 7075 hybrid composites

The objective of the present research is to enhance the wear behavior of silicon Nitride (Si3N4), Hafnium carbide (HfC) and Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) reinforced with Al 7075. The secondary particles like Si3N4 (2, 5 & 8), HfC (0.5, 1.25 & 2) and MoS2 (2, 3.5 & 5) are reinforced in base material Al7075 alloy using Powder Metallurgy (PM) technique. The sintered composites were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Dry sliding wear test was conducted for the sintered samples. The parameters of the experimentation are applied load (20 N, 40 N & 60 N), sliding velocity (1.5 m/s, 2 m/s & 2.5 m/s) and keeping sliding distance (1000 m) as constant. The results revealed that after reinforcing the secondary particles, it directly influenced the minimization of wear behavior. The worn surface analysis of the fabricated samples was viewed using SEM. Further, the process parameters of the wear behavior were optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Also, the maximum influencing process parameters were identified using analysis of variance (ANOVA).