The Al-Si alloy with near eutectic composition has been conventionally used as a piston material for automobile applications. It is required to possess high abrasive wear resistance for enhanced life of the engine. The alloy is known to have fairly good wear resistance due to increased percentage of silicon present in fine form. In the present investigation, Al-SiC particulate composites have been studied for their wear resistance against emery paper (400 grit SiC particles) counterface and a comparison has been made with existing piston alloy i.e. Al-Si alloy. The Al-SiC composites have been prepared using Liquid Metallurgy technique employing 2124 Al alloy as the base material with 10 and 20 % SiC particulates by weight. The abrasive wear study has been conducted on a Pin on Disc machine. The wear rate in terms of weight loss per unit sliding distance as well as the volumetric wear rate have been obtained for the Al-SiC composites. The characteristics of worn surface were investigated using SEM. The composites are found to possess very high wear resistance as compared to Al-Si piston alloy. The results have been discussed and important conclusions are outlined.
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