Analysis of Three Body Abrasive Wear Behaviour of Centrifugally Cast Aluminium Composite Reinforced with Ni Coated SiC using Taguchi Technique

The aim of the present research is to determine the abrasive wear behavior of functionally graded Al LM21/10wt.% Ni coated SiC composite fabricated by centrifugal casting route. The centrifugal cast hollow cylindrical part has the dimensions of Øout150 mm x Øin135 mm x 160 mm. Ni was coated over SiC reinforcement particles by electroless coating process and the presence of Ni content on reinforcement particles were confirmed by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy analysis (EDS). Abrasive wear test was conducted as per Taguchi's L27 orthogonal array design. The parameters selected for wear experiments were: load (29, 34 and 41 N), rotational speed (100, 150 and 200 rpm) and radial distance (1, 6 and 11 mm) from outer periphery. The wear characteristics of the composite were analyzed using signal-to-noise and analysis of variance. Results showed that the radial distance had major impact on the wear rate (40.59 %), followed by the applied load (29.7 %) and rotational speed (14.85 %). The regression equation was developed and validated with confirmatory experiments and the error was found to be less than 10 %. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis was done on the worn specimens and observed lesser wear rate at the radial distance of 1 mm.