Effect of Sand Concentration in the Medium and Travel Distance and Speed on the Slurry Wear Response of a Zinc-Based Alloy Alumina Particle Composite

Slurry wear characteristics of a zinc-based alloy composite containing 10 wt.% alumina particles have been analyzed by sample rotation technique in this study. The slurry comprised 0.4 g sodium chloride and 0.5 cm³ concentrated sulphuric acid dissolved in one litre of water plus varying concentration (up to 60 wt.%) of sand particles. The traversal distance was varied in the range of 15–500 km while test speeds were maintained at 4.71 and 7.02 m/s. It was observed that the wear response of the composite was influenced by parameters such as traversal speed and distance and the content of the sand particles in the environment. Wear rate reduced with increasing speed when tests were conducted in the liquid-only medium while the trend tended to reverse in the presence of the suspended sand particles in the medium. Further, the wear rate increased initially with distance, attained a peak and decreased thereafter at longer traversal distances. Testing the samples in the environment without sand led to higher wear rate when compared with the ones in the media containing sand. Further, within the liquid plus sand media, intermediate sand content (in the test environment) caused maximum wear rate. In this case, the maximum sand content exhibited minimum wear rate. The wear behaviour of the composite under varying conditions has further been substantiated through the characteristic features of the affected surfaces and subsurface regions. Operating wear mechanisms have been observed to be corrosion assisted erosion and abrasion. The predominance of one mechanism over the other(s) actually controlled the wear response of the composite in specific conditions of wear.