Dry sliding wear behaviour of Saffil-reinforced AA6061 composites

The steady-state wear of aluminium alloy AA6061 and AA6061-based Saffil fibre-reinforced composites, manufactured by a PM route, was investigated with a pin-on-disc configuration under dry sliding conditions. Using a constant sliding velocity, the wear rates of the monolithic alloy and the composites increased proportionally with the applied load. The benefit of Saffil reinforcement at volume fractions of 5, 10 and 20% was not substantial at loads ranging from 4.9 to 48.3 N. As the applied load decreased to 1.1 N, the composite showed a promising improvement in wear resistance as the volume fraction of Saffil reinforcement increased. At loads of 19.2 N and above, the wear resistance of the AA6061 composite was slightly impaired when the volume fraction of the Saffil reinforcement was increased from 5 to 20%. Compared with over-aged samples, the improvement of the wear resistance due to peak-ageing was not significant, although the Vickers hardness of the peak-aged samples was double that of the over-aged samples. The surface morphology of both the monolithic alloy and the composites after testing under loads of 9.8 or 48.3 N revealed a compacted layer which comprised mainly aluminium and iron. The amount of iron transferred increased with the applied load and with the volume fraction of Saffil in the composite. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis indicated that the wear debris was generated mainly from the compacted layer. On the basis of the experimental observations, delamination was considered to be the controlling wear mechanism for the monolithic specimens tested at all loads and the composite specimens tested at loads ranging from 4.9 to 48.3 N. At a load of 1.1 N, surface fatigue, which caused surface cracking, was evident for the composite specimens.