EFFECTS OF DUAL PARTICLE SIZES ON WEAR PROPERTIES OF PARTICLE REINFORCED METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES

摘要

The wear behaviour of unreinforced AA2124 sample and AA2124 matrix SiC reinforced composites was investigated using a ball on disc test at room temperature under dry conditions. SiC reinforced AA2124 matrix composites were manufactured by powder metallurgy (PM). Reinforced composites were manufactured using single or dual particle sized SiC powders. Single particle sized composites were manufactured using one single size SiC particles (SPS) reinforcing metal matrix. Dual particle size composites incorporate small and large SiC particle sizes (DPS) with the same composite. Samples sintered at 615 degrees C for 30 min under 300 MPa pressure and under argon atmosphere. The hardness test was used to investigate mechanical behaviour and found that smaller particles cause increasing the hardness in the larger particle reinforced composites. The wear tests show that adding small particles in the large particle reinforced composites improves the wear resistance.