520 Fretting Wear of Aluminum Alloy Matrix Composites : Observation of Wear Surfaces and Particles

Abstract

Flat-against-ball fretting wear experiments for Al-Si alloy matrix composites in contact with bearing steel were conducted in wet air, to investigate the effects of fretting surface phenomena on friction and wear of the composites. The total wear rate of the Al-Si alloy-graphite composite (AlGr-MMC) and the steel shows a minimum, and the steel exhibits lower oxidation than that for the alumina short fiber-reinforced composite (AFR-MMC), the hollow silica particle-reinforced composite (SPR-MMC) and the Al-Si alloy matrix. Because of mixing of graphite with Al-Si alloy debris, the wear particles of the AlGr-MMC tend to become larger than those for the other composites.