Tribological behaviour of Aluminium Hybrid Metal Matrix Composite

Abstract:

 Aluminum based metal matrix composites (MMCs) are appropriate materials for
structural applications in the aircraft and automotive industries because they are ductile,
highly conductive, lightweight and have a high strength to weight ratio.
 Wear and Friction behavior of Al6061 with various percentage volumes of Multiwall
carbon nanotube and Silicon Carbide reinforcement through stir casting method followed
by die-casting was investigated.
 Wear test was made by using Pin on Disc Apparatus on the prepared Specimen.

Introduction:

 Materials with unusual combination of properties like low densities, strong, stiff and
impact resistant and not easily corroded are needed for aerospace, underwater and
transportation applications and that cannot be met by the metals, conventional metallic
alloys, ceramics and polymeric materials.
 Therefore, a composite material which consists of a mixture or a combination of two or
more distinctly differing materials can be used whose properties are superior in a specific
application to those of the original substances.
 Metal matrix composites (MMCs) possess significantly improved properties including
high specific strength; specific modulus, damping capacity and good wear resistance
compared to the unreinforced alloys.
 Aluminum alloys are used in many engineering applications due to their light weight and
high strength characteristics. However, low hardness and consequently low wear
resistance limit their use in some applications.
 Aluminum metal matrix composites (Al-MMCs) containing particulate reinforcements
are considered as the promising solution for imparting better wear resistance to aluminum
alloys.
 The addition of silicon carbide and alumina to aluminum alloys was reported to improve
their wear resistance.
 Recently, research has been extended to evaluate the effect of nanoparticles on wear
resistance of aluminum and its alloys.
 One of the promising nano reinforcements was carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which has
exceptionally high mechanical properties.
 Zhou and coworkers fabricated aluminum composites reinforced with CNTs through
pressureless infiltration of aluminum into CNTs–Mg–Al preformed in N2 atmosphere at
800˚C.
  They found that CNTs were well dispersed and embedded in the Al matrix, the friction
coefficient of the composite decreased with increasing the volume fraction of CNTs, and
the wear rate of the composite decreased steadily with the increase of CNTs content
(from 0 to 20 vol%).
 Hansang Kwon discussed Functionally graded carbon nanotubes(CNT) and nano Silicon
carbide (nSiC) reinforced aluminum (Al) matrix composite materials were fully densified
by a simple ball milling and hot-pressing processes.
 It was observed that the CNT was better dispersed in the Al particles with a nSiC mixing
agent compared to without it used.
 Subrata Kumar Ghosh & Partha Saha discovered that crack density and wear
performance of SiC particulate (SiCp) reinforced Al-based metal matrix composite (Al-
MMC) fabricated by direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) process have been studied.
 Mainly, size and volume fraction of SiCp have been varied to analyze the crack and wear
behavior of the composite.
 The study has suggested that crack density increases significantly after 15 volume
percentage (vol.%) of SiCp. The paper has also suggested that when size (mesh) of
reinforcement increases, wear resistance of the composite drops.

Experiment:

Materials

 Al 6061 with density 2.7 g/cm3, tensile strength 310 MPa and modulus of elasticity 70
GPa was used as a matrix material.
 6061 is a precipitation hardening aluminum alloy, containing magnesium and silicon as
its major alloying elements.
 The mixture of nano SiC and MWCNT particles were used as the reinforcement material.
 Two different volume percent of MWCNTs (0.5 % and 1.0 %) and fixed volume percent
of SiC (15 %) were used in the experiment.

Experimental procedure:

 The composites were fabricated by stir casting method to ensure uniform distribution of
the reinforcements.
 The Al 6061 alloy, which was in the form of ingot, was cut into small pieces to
accommodate in the graphite crucible.
 The nanoSiC for the study was procured from Mahalakshmi Scientific, chemicals
company, Chennai and MWCNT was procured from Redex Technologies Pvt. Ltd.,
Ghazhiabad, U.P.
 Aluminum alloy was first melted in an electric furnace. MWCNT and SiC, preheated to a
temperature of about 620 °C, were added to the molten metal at 750 °C and stirred
continuously.
 The stirring was carried out at 450 rpm for 5 minutes using a twin blade mild steel
impeller to ensure uniform incorporation of the SiC and MWCNT particles into the
Al6061 matrix.
 The stir casting setup is presented in Fig.

 Rockwell hardness testing was performed for measuring the hardness for Al-SiC-
MWCNT metal matrix Nano composites.
 A pin-on-disc wear testing machine was used to evaluate the sliding wear behaviour of
the composites.
 The wear tests were carried out under dry sliding conditions in air at 30±3˚C with the
relative humidity of 59-69% as per ASTM G99-95.
 Pin specimens of 8mm diameter and 50 mm height were cut from the machined samples,
and then polished.
 A normal load of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 kg was applied using dead weights, at 636 rpm for 5
minutes and the pins were carefully cleaned with alcohol and weighed using a sensitive
electronic balance.
 During the test, the pin was pressed against the counterpart rotating against a AISI-O1
Cast Iron disc (hardness 63 HRC) by applying the load.
 The Fig shows the Pin-on-disc apparatus and the photograph of the prepared pin and cast
iron disc.
Conclusion

 The stir casting method is found to be suitable to fabricate the hybrid Aluminium-SiC-
MWCNT reinforced metal matrix Nano composites.
 Aluminium reinforced with SiC and MWCNT exhibits better dry abrasive wear
resistance.
 For all values of the applied load, specific wear rate decreases with the increase of the %
of MWCNT.
 Hardness of the composites increase as the hybrid ratio increases.
 This work is a preliminary study. The detailed study is required to evaluate the
contribution of SiC and MWCNT nanoparticles on the wear properties of the hybrid
composites.
 Tribological Behaviour of Al-6061 / SiC Metal Matrix Composite by
Taguchi’s Techniques

Abstract:

 Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy Al-6061 reinforced with silicon carbide

particles (10% & 15% weight percentage od SiCp) fabricated by stir casting process was
investigated.
 The wear and frictional properties of the metal matrix composites was studied by
performing dry sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester.
 Experiments were conducted based on the plan of experiments generated through
Taguchi‟s technique.
 A L9 Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data.
 Investigation to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on
wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process was carried out
using ANOVA and regression equation for each response were developed for both 10%
& 15% SiC reinforced Al-6061MMCs.
 Objective of the model was chosen as ,smaller the better‟ characteristics to analyse the
dry sliding wear resistance.

Introduction:

 In the last two decades, research has shifted from monolithic materials to composite
materials to meet the global demand for light weight, high performance, environmental
friendly, wear and corrosion resistant materials.
 Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) are suitable for applications requiring combined
strength, thermal conductivity, damping properties and low coefficient of thermal
expansion with lower density. These properties of MMCs enhance their usage in
automotive and tribological applications.

Experimental Procedure

Design of experiments (doe):

 Design of experiment is one of the important and powerful statistical techniques to study
the effect of multiple variables simultaneously and involves a series of steps which must
 follow a certain sequence for the experiment to yield an improved understanding of
process performance.
 Taguchi approach relies on the assignment of factors in specific orthogonal arrays to
determine those test combinations.
 The DOE process is made up of three main phases: the planning phase, the conducting
phase, and the analysis phase.

Material Selection

 In the present investigation, Al-SiC alloy was chosen as the base matrix since its
properties can be tailored through heat treatment process.
 The reinforcement was sic, average size of 150 to 160 microns.
 Due to the property of high hardness and high thermal conductivity, SiC after
accommodation in soft ductile aluminium base matrix, enhance the wear resisting
behaviour of the Al – SiC metal matrix composite.

Composite Preparation:

 Stir casting technique is one such simplest and cost effective method to fabricate metal
matrix composites which has been adopted by many researchers.
 This method is most economical to fabricate composites with discontinuous fibres and
particulates and was used in this work to obtain the as cast specimens.
 Care was taken to maintain an optimum casting parameter of pouring temperature
(650°C) and stirring time (15 min). The reinforcements were preheated prior to their
addition in the aluminium alloy melt. Degassing agent (hexachloro ethane) was used to
reduce gas porosities.
 The molten metal was then poured into a permanent cast iron mould of diameter 26mm
and length 300mm. The die was released after 6 hours and the cast specimens were taken
out.

Wear Behaviour:

 The aim of the experimental plan is to find the important factors and combination of
factors influencing the wear process to achieve the minimum wear rate and coefficient of
friction.
 The above mentioned pin on disc test apparatus was used to determine the sliding wear
characteristics of the composite.
 Specimens of size 10 mm diameter and 25 mm length were cut from the cast samples,
and then machined.
 During the test, the pin was held pressed against a rotating EN31 carbon steel disc
(hardness of 65HRC) by applying load that acts as counterweight and balances the pin.
  The track diameter was varied for each batch of experiments in the range of 50 mm to
100 mm and the parameters such as the load, sliding speed and sliding distance were
varied .
 A LVDT (load cell) on the lever arm helps determine the wear at any point of time by
monitoring the movement of the arm.
 Once the surface in contact wears out, the load pushes the arm to remain in contact with
the disc. This movement of the arm generates a signal which is used to determine the
maximum wear and the coefficient of friction is monitored continuously as wear occurs
and graphs between coefficient of friction and time was monitored for both of the
specimens i.e., 10 % and 15% SiC/ Al-6061 MMCs.

Plan of experiments

 Dry sliding wear test was performed with three parameters: applied load, sliding speed,
and sliding distance and varying them for three levels.
 According to the rule that degree of freedom for an orthogonal array should be greater
than or equal to sum of those wear parameters.
 The selection of Orthogonal array depends on three items in order of priority, viz., the
number of factors and their interactions, number of levels for the factors and the desired
experimental resolution or cost limitations.
 The S/N ratio for wear rate and coefficient of friction using „smaller the better‟
characteristic given by Taguchi, is as follows:

Where y1, y2...yn are the response of friction and sliding wear and n is the number of
observations

Conclusions:

Following are the conclusions drawn from the study on dry sliding wear test using Taguchi‟s
technique.

 Sliding distance (62.5%) has the highest influence on wear rate followed by sliding
speed(37.5%) and applied load (1.25%) and for coefficient of friction, the contribution of
applied load is 85.5%, sliding distance is 13.4% for Al – 6061/ 10% SiC metal matrix
composites.
 Applied load (57.2%) has the highest influence on wear rate followed by sliding distance
(7.1%) and sliding speed (7.1%) and for coefficient of friction, the contribution of
applied load is 87.2%, sliding distance is 9.7% for Al – 6061/ 15% SiC metal matrix
composites.
 Increasing incorporation of SiC (10% & 15%) increases the wear resistance of
composites by forming a protective layer between pin & counterface.
 From the above conclusion we predict that sliding distance & applied load have the
highest influence on wear rate in both composites.
 Similarly applied load is only parameter which is largely influence the coefficient of
friction in both composites.
 A Study of tribological behavior of aluminum-7075/SiC Metal matrix
composites
Abstract

 The present work investigates the tribological behaviour of aluminum alloy Al-7075
reinforced with silicon carbide particles (10% & 15% weight percentage of SiC)
fabricated by stir casting process.
 The frictional properties of the metal matrix composites was studied by performing dry
sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester.
 Experiments were conducted based on the plan of experiments generated through
Taguchi’s technique.
 A TAGUCHI L-9 Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data.
 Investigation to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on
wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process was carried out
using ANOVA and regression equation for each response were developed for both 10%
& 15% SiC reinforced Al-7075 MMCs.
 Objective of the model was chosen as “smaller the better” characteristics to analyze the
dry sliding wear resistance.
 The regression analysis is successfully employed to predict the wear rate and coefficient
of friction for both the weight ratios of composite. However, 10 wt.% composite is
predicted with highest accuracy of 95.2% followed by the 15 wt.% composite with
93.4%.

Introduction:

 Aluminium based alloys are suitable materials for structural applications in the aircraft
and automotive industries because they are ductile, highly conductive, lightweight and
have a high strength to weight ratio.
 In particular, particle reinforced MMCs have recently found special interest because of
their specific strength and stiffness at room and elevated temperatures.
Experimental Procedure

Design Of Experiments (Doe)

 Design of Experiment is one of the important and powerful statistical techniques to study
the effect of multiple variables simultaneously and involves a series of steps which must
follow a certain sequence for the experiment to yield an improved understanding of
process performance.
 The DOE process is made up of three main phases: the planning phase, the conducting
phase, and the analysis phase.
 A major step in the DOE process is the determination of the combination of factors and
levels which will provide the desired information.
 Analysis of the experimental results uses a signal to noise ratio to aid in the determination
of the best process designs.

Materials Required:

 In the present investigation, Al-7075 alloy was chosen as the base matrix since its
properties can be tailored through heat treatment process. The reinforcement was SiC,
average size of 150 to 160 microns.
 Due to the property of high hardness and high thermal conductivity, SiC after
accommodation into soft ductile aluminium base matrix, enhance the wear resisting
behaviour of the Al/SiC metal matrix composite.

Composite Preparation:

 Stir-casting technique is one such simplest and cost effective method to fabricate metal
matrix composites which has been adopted by many researchers.
 The as-received Al 7075 alloy as shown in Fig.1 is initially melted in a electrical furnace
to a temperature of 800°C. Fig.2 Later, SiC reinforcement is added into the vortex of the
melt created by the stirrer. A three blade stainless steel stirrer is employed in the study.
 After adding the reinforcement stirring was continued for 5 minutes. Now the molten
composite is poured into the split piece die to obtain cylindrical samples as shown in
Fig.3
 Fig.1 Fig.2 Fig.3

Fig.1 As received Al 7075 alloy Fig.2 Melting of Al 7075 in electrical furnance

Fig.3 As cast Al 7075/SiC composite sample

 The molten metal was then poured into a permanent cast iron mould of diameter 26mm
and length 300mm. The die was released after 1 hours and the cast specimens were taken
out.

Wear Behaviour

 The aim of the experimental plan is to find the important factors and combination of
factors influencing the wear process to achieve the minimum wear rate and coefficient of
friction.
 Taguchi recommends analysing the S/N ratio using conceptual approach that involves
graphing the effects and visually identifying the significant factors.
 A LVDT (load cell) on the lever arm helps determine the wear at any point of time by
monitoring the movement of the arm.
 Once the surface in contact wears out, the load pushes the arm to remain in contact with
the disc. This movement of the arm generates a signal which is used to determine the
maximum wear and the coefficient of friction is monitored continuously as wear occurs
and graphs between co-efficient of friction and time was monitored for both of the
specimens i.e., 10 % and 15% SiC/ Al-7075 MMCs.

Plan Of Experiments:

 Dry sliding wear test was performed with three parameters applied load, sliding speed,
and sliding distance and varying them for three levels.
 According to the rule that degree of freedom for an orthogonal array should be greater
than or equal to sum of those wear parameters.
  The selection of Orthogonal array depends on three items in order of priority, viz., the
number of factors and their interactions, number of levels for the factors and the desired
experimental resolution or cost limitations.
 The objective of model is to minimize wear rate and coefficient of friction.
 The S/N ratio for wear rate and coefficient of friction using “smaller the better
characteristic given by Taguchi.

Conclusions:

 Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy Al-7075 reinforced with silicon carbide

particles (10%& 15% weight percentage of SiC) fabricated by stir casting process was
investigated.
 The wear and frictional properties of the metal matrix composites was studied by
performing dry sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester.
 Experiments were conducted based on the DOE generated through Taguchi’s technique.
Following are the conclusions drawn from the study on dry sliding wear test using
Taguchi’s technique.

1. Sliding distance (62.5%) has the highest influence on wear rate followed by sliding speed
(37.5%) and applied load (1.25%) and for coefficient of friction, the contribution of applied load
is 85.5%, sliding distance is 13.4% for Al – 7075/ 10% SiCmetal matrix composites.

2.Applied load (87.3%) has the highest influence on wear rate followed by sliding distance
(7.1%) and sliding speed (5.6%) and for coefficient of friction, the contribution of applied load is
87.2%, sliding distance is 9.7% for Al – 7075/ 15%SiCmetal matrix composites. Increasing
incorporation of SiC (10% & 15%) increases the wear resistance of composites by forming a
protective layer between pin & counter face.

From the above conclusion we predict that sliding distance & applied load have the highest
influence on wear rate in both composites.

Similarly applied load is only parameter which is largely influence the coefficient of friction in
both composites. Regression equation generated for the (10% & 15% SiC MMCs) present
model was used to predict the wear rate & coefficient of friction of Al – 7075/(10% & 15%) SiC
MMCs for intermediate conditions with reasonable accuracy.Thus design of experiments by
Taguchi method was successfully used to predict the tribological behaviour of composites.
 Tribological Behavior of Al-SiC Metal Matrix Composite Under Dry,
Aqueous and Alkaline Medium

Abstract:

 The present study considers friction and wear behavior of aluminum matrix composites
reinforced with SiC particles under three different working environments, viz., dry
condition, aqueous medium and alkaline medium.
 The experiments are conducted with a pin-on-disk tribotester.
 It is observed that wear increases with increase in applied load and sliding speed for all
three working environments and the maximum wear occurs in the case of the alkaline
medium followed by the aqueous medium and the dry condition.
 In general, the friction coefficient decreases with increase in applied normal load.
 The microstructure analysis of the worn sliding surface is done with the help of a
scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray analysis.

Introduction

 Wear and corrosion of materials are major problems in mines, mineral and chemical
processing industries, which directly or indirectly affect the production cost due to the
material loss of movable machinery components leading to frequent repair and
replacement of the components at regular intervals.
 The contacting surfaces in relative motion are subjected to these detrimental hazards and
hence require improved tribological performances.
 Aluminum based metal matrix composites (MMCs) have been developed due to the
improved physical and thermal properties like good wear resistance, higher strength,
lower coefficient of thermal expansion and higher thermal conductivity.
 Aluminum metal matrix composites reinforced with hard ceramic particles have been
commercially used as wear resistant or friction-reducing materials in the aerospace and
automotive sectors where weight reduction is the crucial issue.
 Generally, the reinforcements used in aluminum based metal matrix composites are
silicon carbide, aluminum oxide and graphite to enhance the wear resistance.

Experimental Procedure:

Material Processing:
  Aluminum alloy LM6 is used as the base metal and SiC particles of 400 mesh size (37
μm) are used as reinforcement.
 The metal matrix composite is prepared by using the liquid stir casting process.

Tribological Tests

 Wear and friction performances of Al-SiC MMC specimens are carried out in a pin-on-
disk tribometer.
 The experimental setup is shown in Fig.

 The tribological tests are conducted under three environments, viz. dry condition,
aqueous medium and alkaline medium.
 For conducting the tribological tests, applied normal load is varied as 10 N, 30 N, 50 N,
70 N and 90 N while sliding speed is varied as 0.04 m/s, 0.12 m/s, 0.2 m/s, 0.28 m/s and
0.36 m/s.
 Test duration (sliding time) is kept constant at 30 min. Thus a total of 25 experimental
runs are carried out for five levels of applied normal load and sliding speed each.
 The frictional force is measured by a frictional force sensor (IPA) that uses a beam-type
load cell (range 0–100 N).
 The coefficient of friction is obtained by dividing the average frictional force by the
applied normal load.
 The wear is obtained in terms of weight loss. The weight loss is obtained from the
difference in weight of samples before and after the experiment.

Conclusion:

 In the present study, an aluminum metal matrix composite reinforced with 7.5% SiC
particles is prepared using the liquid stir casting method.
 Tribological tests are carried out in three different environments viz. dry, aqueous and
alkaline environment for varying sliding speeds and applied normal loads in a pin-on-disk
type tribotester.
 The variation of friction coefficient and wear with the tribological process parameters
are studied in detail for three environments and a comparative study of the friction and
wear behavior is carried out.
 It is seen that wear increases with increase in applied load and sliding speed under dry,
aqueous and alkaline environments but wear is maximum under the alkaline environment
followed by aqueous medium and dry sliding.
 Coefficient of friction decreases with increase in applied normal load. Due to the
lubrication effect of the alkaline solution, the coefficient of friction remain slow
compared to the other environments.
 From the SEM and EDX analysis, it is concluded that an oxide transfer layer plays the
vital role in controlling wear behavior. This study may be helpful in understanding the
tribological behavior of the Al-SiC MMC working under different environmental
condition.
 Tribological Behaviour of Aluminium/Alumina/Graphite Hybrid Metal
Matrix Composite Using Taguchi’s Techniques

ABSTRACT:

 Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy (Al-Si10Mg) reinforced with alumina (9%)

and graphite (3%) fabricated by stir casting process was investigated.
 The wear and frictional properties of the hybrid metal matrix composites was studied by
performing dry sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester.
 Experiments were conducted based on the plan of experiments generated through
Taguchi’s technique. A L27 Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data.
 Investigation to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on
wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process was carried out
using ANOVA and regression equations for each response were developed.
 Objective of the model was chosen as ‘smaller the better’ characteristics to analyse the
dry sliding wear resistance.
 Results show that sliding distance has the highest influence followed by load and sliding
speed. Finally, confirmation tests were carried out to verify the experimental results and
Scanning Electron Microscopic studies were done on the wear surfaces.

Introduction:

 In the last two decades, research has shifted from monolithic materials to composite
materials to meet the global demand for light weight, high performance, environmental
friendly, wear and corrosion resistant materials.
 Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) are suitable for applications requiring combined
strength, thermal conductivity, damping properties and low coefficient of thermal
expansion with lower density. These properties of MMCs enhance their usage in
automotive and tribological applications.

Experimental Procedure:

Design of experiments (doe):

 Design of Experiment is one of the important and powerful statistical techniques to study
the effect of multiple variables simultaneously and involves a series of steps which must
follow a certain sequence for the experiment to yield an improved understanding of
process performance.
  Taguchi approach relies on the assignment of factors in specific orthogonal arrays to
determine test combinations.
 The DOE process is made up of three main phases: the planning phase, the conducting
phase, and the analysis phase. A major step in the DOE process is the determination of
the combination of factors and levels which will provide the desired information.
 Analysis of the experimental results uses a signal to noise ratio to aid in the determination
of the best process designs. This technique has been successfully used by researchers in
the study of dry sliding wear behaviour of composites.
 In the present work, a plan order for performing the experiments was generated by
Taguchi method using orthogonal arrays and analysis of parameters was done using
ANOVA technique.

Material selection:

 In the present investigation, Al-Si10Mg alloy was chosen as the base matrix since its
properties can be tailored through heat treatment process.
 The first reinforcement was graphite, average size of 50 to 70 microns,
 However there is also a decline in mechanical properties due to inclusion of graphite
above 1%.To compensate the reduction in mechanical properties, a second reinforcement
of alumina, size 15-20 microns, in particulate form was chosen.

Composite Preparation:

 Liquid metallurgy route is one such simplest and cost effective method to fabricate metal
matrix composites which has been adopted by many researchers.
 This method is most economical to fabricate composites with discontinuous fibers and
particulates and was used in this work to obtain the as cast specimens.

Wear Behaviour:

 A pin on disc test apparatus was performed to determine the sliding wear characteristics
of the composite.
 Specimens of size 10 mm diameter and 30 mm length were cut from the cast samples,
machined and then polished.
 The contact surface of the cast sample (pin) has to be flat and will be in contact with the
rotating disk.
 During the test, the pin is held pressed against a rotating EN32 steel disc (hardness of
65HRC) by applying load that acts as counterweight and balances the pin.
 The track diameter was varied for each batch of experiments in the range of 70 mm to
110 mm and the parameters such as the load, sliding speed and sliding distance were
varied in the range given in Table 2.
  A LVDT (load cell) on the lever arm helps determine the wear at any point of time by
monitoring the movement of the arm.
 Once the surface in contact wears out, the load pushes the arm to remain in contact with
the disc. This movement of the arm generates a signal which is used to determine the
maximum wear and the coefficient of friction is monitored continuously as wear occurs.

Plan of experiments:

 Dry sliding wear test was performed with three parameters: applied load, sliding speed,
and sliding distance and varying them for three levels.
 According to the rule that degree of freedom for an orthogonal array should be greater
than or equal to sum of those wear parameters.
 The selection of Orthogonal array depends on three items in order of priority, viz., the
number of factors and their interactions, number of levels for the factors and the desired
experimental resolution or cost limitations.
 A total of 27 experiments were performed based on the run order generated by the
Taguchi model.
 The response for the model is wear rate and coefficient of friction.
 The objective of model is to minimize wear rate and coefficient of friction. The responses
were tabulated and results were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).
 The S/N ratio characteristics can be divided into three categories, viz. ‘nominal is the
best’, ‘larger the better’ and ‘smaller the better ‘characteristics.
 In this study, ‘smaller the better’ characteristics was chosen to analyse the dry sliding
wear resistance.
 The S/N ratio for wear rate and coefficient of friction using ‘smaller the better’
characteristic given by Taguchi, is as follows:

S/N = -10 log1\n (y12+ y22+..... yn2)

where y1, y2...yn are the response of friction and sliding wear and n is the number of
observations.

Conclusions:

Following are the conclusions drawn from the study on dry sliding wear test using Taguchi’s
technique.

 Sliding distance (46.8%) has the highest influence on wear rate followed by applied load
(31.5%) and sliding speed (14.1%) and for coefficient of friction, the contribution of
sliding distance is 50%, applied load is 35.7% and sliding speed is 7.3%.
 Incorporation of graphite as primary reinforcement increases the wear resistance of
composites by forming a protective layer between pin and counter face and the inclusion
of alumina as a secondary reinforcement also has a significant effect on the wear
behaviour.
 Regression equation generated for the present model was used to predict the wear rate
and coefficient of friction of HMMC for intermediate conditions with reasonable
accuracy.
 Confirmation experiment was carried out and made a comparison between experimental
values and computed values showing an error associated with dry sliding wear of
composites varying from 3.88% to 14.1%. Thus, Design of experiments by Taguchi
method was successfully used to predict the tribological behaviour of composites.