Tribological Investigation of Self-Lubricated Al-SiC-Kaoline Hybrid Composite Under Dry, Oil and Nanofluids Lubricating Conditions Fabricated Through Spark Plasma Sintering Technique.

Abstract

In this present study Al-10% SiC- X % Kaoline (X= 0, 2, 4, 6, 8) HMMC synthesized by spark plasma sintering technique. The fabricated HMMC samples corresponding to maximum compression strength was subjected to tribological investigation under dry, oil and nanofluids lubricating conditions. Nanofluid lubricants were developed by incorporating SiC nanoparticles with weight percentages of 1 wt%, 1.5 wt% and 2 wt% into the soluble oil. The thermal conductivity was found to be increased with increasing the wt % of SiC nanoparticles and the maximum thermal conductivity of 0.771 W/m.K was obtained for the nanofluids with 2 wt% SiC nanofluids. Sliding wear test was conducted on the pin-on-disc tribometer at 40 N load and sliding speed of 1500 r.p.m for a sliding of 180 s. Results reveal that there was a significant effect of the lubricating conditions (dry, oil and nanofluids) on the wear and C.O.F of the HMMC pin surface. The minimum wear of 119 microns and minimum C.O.F of 0.11 was obtained for nanofluid with 2 wt% SiC nanofluid lubricating conditions. SEM analysis of worn surface under dry and soluble oil lubricating conditions reveal the presence of microcracks and delaminations wear. However, worn surface with smooth grooves and absence of microcracks was identified under nanofluid lubricating conditions.