Wear Behavior of Aluminum Alloys under Low Stress Three Body Dry Sliding Abrasion Conditions

Wrought Aluminum alloy 6063-O fingers of size 8 mm dia and 50 mm length were machined from 12 mm dia rods and cast Aluminum alloy A 356.0 rods of 12 mm dia were melted and cast in permanent cast iron moulds and later machined to 8 mm dia and 50 mm length fingers. Two types of cast samples were prepared namely the as-cast and T6 tempered conditions. Dry sliding 3 body abrasive wear behavior of these materials under low stress conditions with applied load from 1N to 3 N has been investigated using a specially designed pin on disc wear tester at a fixed sliding speed of 1.3 m/s. SiC emery paper of grit 220 was pasted on the steel counter face and made to run against the fixed pin made of the Aluminum alloy. The wear mass loss was measured for various test conditions and wear factor calculated and plotted. The wear mechanisms were identified and the wear scars viewed through the optical microscope and inferences drawn. The wear rate was found to decrease when the sliding distance and the applied load was increased. The results revealed that severe wear occurred, the wear factor being in the range 10-3 to 10-5 mg/Nm, in spite of the low stress applied. The wear behavior was correlated to the test conditions and the properties of the materials used. The study pertains to IC engines, valves, brakes, material handling equipment, bearings, electromechanical and MEMS devices to name a few.