Abstract— MMCs are promising materials under constant development and their application in different industries is increasing. They have better mechanical and tribological properties comparing to the matrix materials. This paper presents tribological tests results of Aluminium A356 with 10% Al2O3 reinforcement. The reinforcement was in the shape of particles with size of 25 , 45 , 75  and 120  and the technology for producing of composite was stir casting. Dry sliding wear tests of the specimens were conducted using pin-on-disc test apparatus conforming to ASTM G99 standards with electronic data acquisition system. EN32 hardened steel disc with a hardness of 65HRC and Ra value of 2.5-3.5 μm was used as the counter surface. The wear displacement with respect to sliding distance of different test specimens at different loads were studied and analysed. The slope of the curves is higher initially, indicating running-in wear, during which, asperity contacts take place resulting in higher wear rates. Later, as the asperities get flattened, contact area increases, with reduction in wear rate, which is indicated by reduced slope of wear curves. With further increase in sliding distance, rate of wear increases, due to abrasive wear of entrapped particles between mating surfaces.

Index Terms— Aluminium Matrix Composites (AMCs), A356, Al2O3, Dry sliding, Friction, Wear

Cite: Honnaiah C, Ashok Kumar M S* and S L Ajit Prasad, " Evaluation of Tribological Properties of A356-Al2O3 Metal Matrix Composites," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 68-74, April 2014.