Wear performance of 2014 Al alloy reinforced with continuous carbon fibers manufactured by gas pressure infiltration

摘要

Ni-coated continuous carbon fibers (C_f; 30 vol.%) were incorporated into 2014 Al Alloy by the gas pressure infiltration method. The sliding wear behavior of the 2014 Al-30 vol.% C_f composite and 2014 Al matrix alloy was investigated using pin on ring wear test apparatus in the load range of 10-550 N and sliding speed of 0.65 ms~(-1). The results indicate that the incorporation of carbon fibers into 2014 Al alloy significantly improves the wear resistance, serves to suppress the transition to a severe wear rate regime and impedes the transition to a higher load (300 N) in comparison to the unreinforced alloy (100 N). Also, the composite exhibits a higher seizure resistance compared to the unreinforced alloy where the unreinforced alloy seized at load of 160 N and composite at load of 550 N. SEM micrographs and EDXA of the composite worn surface reveals that the surface is covered by graphite film, which prevents a metal-to-metal contact and acts as a solid lubricant, resulting in improvement in the wear and seizure resistance of the composite. Subsurface studies show that the carbon fibers tend to reduce the extent of plastic deformation in the subsurface region, thereby delaying the nucleation and propagation of subsurface microcracks.