Modeling of Abraded Surface Roughness and Wear Resistance of Aluminum Matrix Composites

Abstract

Tribological characterizations of composites are primarily focused on the evaluation of wear resistance (WR) and/or the coefficient of friction, although roughness of abraded surfaces (RASs) is one of the key factors that also determines tribo-performances. This study is aimed at modeling RAS in conjunction with WR considering experimental results of Al-matrix/alumina composites performed under two-body abrasion following the central composite design method. Influences of different in situ and ex situ parameters on tribo-responses were analyzed and modeled using analysis of variance, the response surface method, and multi-response optimization. The WR of the selected system was maximized at around 15 wt% alumina at which RAS was also the highest. The positive role of reinforcement on WR and its adverse effect on RAS were explained by micro-mechanisms of abrasion.