Study on tribological and corrosion behaviors of mechanically alloyed and spark plasma sintered aluminium mwcnt composites

Abstract

Aluminium (Al) based Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) plays a vital role in the structural, automobile, aerospace, and marine applications due to its high strength to low density ratio. The addition of low-density reinforcement to Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites (AMMC) could be a solution for lightweight design models. The commonly preferred low-density reinforcement for AMMC is Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT), which are mainly used in structural and oil-manifold applications. This AMMC could be also used in tribological applications. Since, CNT is a solid self-lubricant. From the earlier research, it is observed that the simple and effective techniques for the fabrication of AMMC through powder metallurgy route are Mechanical Alloying (MA) process and Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) Process. Many researchers had reported that the processing factors and parameters of MA and SPS processes influences the mechanical, tribological and corrosion behaviors of the Al/CNT composites. The sintering methods and its temperature range could affect the mechanical and tribological properties of AMMCs. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the optimal process condition/manufacturing method to achieve the better performing Al/CNT composite. The manufacturing method is a configuration of different influencing factors. Therefore, it is important to study each factor and their level of influence on the responses. The influencing factors of MA and SPS processes are reinforcement (MWCNT), milling parameters (milling time, milling speed and ball-to-powder ratio), and sintering condition (sintering pressure, and sintering temperature) on the mechanical, tribological and corrosion behaviors of the Al/CNT composites, which are not studied in detail in the earlier studies. Based on the inference and research gap of the literature, the objective of the current research is to identify the optimal configuration of MA and SPS processes for the Al/CNT composites using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to achieve the maximum mechanical strength, wear resistance and corrosion resistance newline