Investigation of wear mechanism of SiC particulate-reinforced Al-20Si-3Cu-1Mg aluminium matrix composites under dry sliding and water lubrication

Unreinforced Al-20Si-3Cu-1Mg (ASCM) aluminium alloy and SiC particle reinforced Al-20Si-3Cu-1Mg (ASCM-SiC) aluminium matrix composites were fabricated by powder metallurgy (). The samples were slid against 4Cr13 stainless steel in a reciprocal friction tester under a load of 25 N to 175 N and sliding velocity of 0.3 to 1.2 m s⁻¹ at ambient conditions. The results show that SiC particulate-reinforced aluminium matrix composites possess good wear resistance at dry sliding and less wear resistance under water lubrication. Ploughing wear is the dominant wear mechanism at dry sliding and tribochemical wear is dominant under water lubrication. SEM, AES and XPS were used to examine the wear morphology and surface chemistry.