Dry sliding wear behavior of SiC-reinforced Al-Si eutectic metal matrix composite

This study investigates the effect of sliding parameters on the dry sliding wear behavior of (silicon carbide) SiC-reinforced (aluminum silicon) Al-Si eutectic metal matrix composites (MMCs) with 1.5 wt% of magnesium (Mg). The composites were fabricated by incorporating varying amounts of SiC particles into the aluminum-silicon matrix to improve wear resistance. A comprehensive wear analysis was conducted under different sliding speeds, normal loads, sliding distances, and SiC reinforcement contents. The Taguchi method was used to optimize the wear performance, with signal-to-noise (SN) ratios employed to assess the influence of each sliding parameter. The findings show that wear rate is mainly influenced by SiC content (32.04%), normal load (30.98%), and sliding speed (10.99%), while the coefficient of friction (COF) is largely affected by normal load (38.51%), SiC content (34.46%), and sliding distance (23.51%). The study also reveals that the addition of SiC reinforcement improves the wear resistance of the developed composite. The findings suggest that optimizing these parameters can significantly reduce wear, making these composites suitable for advanced engineering applications where high wear resistance is critical.