ANALYSIS OF DRY SLIDING WEAR BEHAVIOUR OF AL 6061- COCONUT SHELL ASH METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES USING STIR CASTING

Al6061 with hard particle reinforcement contains higher stiffness, maximum strength and wear resistance when compare to unreinforced alloy. They can be usage for self-propelled automotive components and aircraft construction. Metal matrix composite (MMC) concentrate chiefly on amended specific strength and wear resistance application. Aluminium as base material and coconut shell ash(CSA) as reinforcement has good potential. The principle difficult is to create this composite in a practical manner. In this project Al6061-CSAp castings with different volume fraction of CSA were produced in an argon atmosphere by an enhanced stir casting method. We found that with more % of CSA addition there is an improvement in specific strength of the composite. Pin on disc equipment used for dry sliding wear analysis of MMCs. The Taguchi analysis revealed the improved specific strength as well as wear resistance. EDS analyses showed oxide phases presence in the castings. Surface Morphology particle distribution were examined in detail by SEM.