Modelling and optimization of wear parameters of Al 4032 reinforced with coal ash using Taguchi and RSM approach

The present study aimed to analyze the wear behaviour of composites synthesized by reinforcing Al 4032 with 2, 4, 6 wt.% of coal ash using the stir casting technique. Wear testing was performed on the composites at room temperature in the absence of lubrication using a pin-on-disc tribometer considering the process parameters as wt.% of reinforcement, speed and load. Micro structural characterization using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) was performed on the cast composites to ascertain the existence of the reinforcement along with its distribution in the prepared composites. The Taguchi L16 orthogonal array was utilized to design experiments to study the significance of the process parameters on the wear rate. A mathematical model was developed for the wear rate using response surface methodology (RSM). 6 wt.% reinforcement, at the speed of 100 rpm and 10 N load were the obtained optimized parameters for the minimum wear rate. Surface plots as well as contour plots were analyzed to understand the consequence of the process parameters on the wear rate. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that speed with 76.10 % was the most prominent parameter followed by load and reinforcement with 11.23 and 9.42% respectively.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MEiN, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2022-2023).