Investigation of mechanical and tribological behavior of Al 4032-SiHGM MMC

The present study is aimed at identifying the influence of silicon hollow glass microspheres (SiHGM) on a newly engineered metal matrix composite. Silicon micro balloons of various wt.% (2, 4, 6) are reinforced in to aluminium 4032 to produce a composite using the stir casting technique. The mechanical properties of the composite such as hardness, tensile and compressive strength were measured. The dry sliding wear test was conducted on the produced specimens to measure the wear rate and coefficient of friction. The results revealed that the properties of the composite are better with an increase in the wt.% of reinforcement. The presence of reinforcement in the composites was identified using Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDX). The grain boundaries and grain refinement for various compositions of reinforcements and worn surfaces were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrographs. The process parameters for the minimum wear rate and coefficient of friction were identified and optimized by using the Taguchi L16 orthogonal array. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the percentage contribution of each process parameter. Multi-response optimization was carried out using Grey relational analysis (GRA) to optimize the process parameters to attain a minimum coefficient of friction and wear rate. The variation in wear rate and coefficient of friction are analyzed with respect to reinforcement (wt.%), speed (rpm) and load (N).