Study of Wear Behavior of Zircon Sand-Reinforced LM13 Alloy Composites at Elevated Temperatures

The present article describes in detail the wear behavior of zircon sand-reinforced LM13 alloy composite at elevated temperatures with variation in load. Zircon sand particles in different amounts were reinforced into LM13 alloy by stir casting route. Dispersion of reinforced particle was examined under optical and scanning electron microscope. The hardness values of the composites were observed to increase with the increasing amount of reinforcement. The coefficients of thermal expansion of LM13 alloy and zircon sand-reinforced composites were recorded in different temperature ranges. Wear behaviors of base alloy and composites have been studied with variation in applied load. Effect of temperature (from 50 to 300 °C) on wear behaviors of both alloy and composites were determined at low (1 kg) and high (5 kg) loads. The improvement in the wear resistance was noticed with the higher amount of reinforcement. A transition from mild-to-severe wear with variations in temperature and load was observed. The results are discussed in light of operative wear mechanisms. Wear track and wear debris of composite materials were also analyzed under SEM to understand the operative wear mechanism under different conditions.