Experimental investigation on the Effect of ceramic coating on the Wear resistance of al6061 substrate

Abstract

The internal combustion engine components are normally made of cast iron or steel due to their strength. Now-a-days, considering fuel economy, the weight of the components are reduced by using aluminum and its alloys to manufacture engine components like combustion chambers, cylinder liners, guide vanes, valves and piston crowns of diesel engines. Materials which provide higher strength and yet lighter in weight are explored for application in the engine section of an automobile. As a replacement to cast iron, aluminium alloys are used widely due to its light weight and thermal conductivity, but its usage is confined to petrol engines. Aluminum alloys find wide structural applications and among the Al alloys, the 6000 series alloys are employed for the fabrication of automobile components. In Particular Al-6061 alloy provides characteristics like heat-treatability, greater toughness, corrosion resistance and good mechanical strength that are appropriate for structural applications like cylinder blocks, crankcases and pistons. These lighter materials that have soft surface require hard coatings to endure wear. This research uses Al 6061 as the base material to conduct experiments on the effectiveness of ceramic coatings. The engine components are generally given ceramic coatings that would act as thermal barrier coating enabling the engine to operate at high temperatures and hence increases the thermal efficiency. Apart from this advantage the ceramic coatings also provide good wear resistance to the surface of the components as they endure frictional forces during the operation of the engine that causes reciprocating movements like piston sliding in the combustion chamber newline