Investigating the physical and surface properties at high temperature of the Al/SiC nanocomposite produced by powder metallurgy

In this research the effect of temperature and volume fraction of reinforcement on wear behavior of the Al/x vol% SiCp (x=0، 1، 3، 5) nanocomposite was investigated. Results revealed that addition of reinforcement particles increases transition to severe wear temperature of the samples، so that the temperature of transition to severe wear for the un-reinforced aluminum، Al-1%SiC، and Al-3%SiC and Al-5%SiC samples is 125°C، 150°C، and 175°C، respectively. Also، the composite samples showed lower wear rate and friction coefficient compared to the un-enforced aluminum، and with increase of volume fraction of SiC particles، wear resistance of the samples was improved. FESEM images from the surface of the samples worn at different temperatures revealed that wear mechanism in the mild wear area of all samples is the abrasive mode، but with increase of temperature and transition to severe wear area، wear mechanism of all samples except Al-5%SiC is the adhesive mode. The Al-5%SiC sample still shows the abrasive mode، which indicates the positive effect of the reinforcement phase.