Analysis of Dry Sliding Wear Behaviour of Aluminium-Fly Ash Composites: The Taguchi Approach

• Main Authors: Shanmughasundaram Palanisamy, Subramanian Ramanathan, Ravikumar Rangaraj
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2013-01-01
• Series: Advances in Mechanical Engineering
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/658085

Dry sliding wear test was conducted on Al-fly ash composites employing pin-on-disc wear testing rig. The influence of parameters such as weight percentage of fly ash, load, and sliding speed on the wear rate of specimens was investigated. Specimens were fabricated by adapting a modified two-step stir casting method. The Taguchi and analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques were employed to investigate the influence of parameters on the wear rate of composite. Multiple linear regression models were developed to predict the wear rate of the composites. It was found that the weight percentage of fly ash was the most dominant factor influencing the wear rate followed by the applied load and sliding speed. The morphology of worn surfaces of the wear pins was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) to analyze the wear behaviour. EDS analysis was carried out to investigate the mechanical mixed layer (MML), which forms on the worn surface of the wear pins.