Sliding Wear Behavior of Al/SiC Composites Fabricated by Thermal Spray Process Against Different Counterparts

SiC particulates reinforced Al matrix composites were fabricated by thermal spray process, and the dry sliding wear behavior against four different counterparts was investigated under a varying of the sliding speed and the applied load conditions. Al/SiC composites were fabricated by flame spraying, and the dry sliding wear tests were performed using the sliding speed of 0.4 m/s and 0.8 m/s at the applied load of 3 N. Sliding distance was kept at 1000 m for all the tests. Al2O3, ZrO2, Si3N4 and AISI 52100 balls were used as the counterparts. Wear tracks on the Al/SiC composites were investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). It was revealed that wear behavior of Al/SiC composites was much influenced by counterpart materials.