Assessment of wear properties of MWCNT and FA reinforced Al nanocomposites produced by powder metallurgy technique

Mono reinforced composites have limited capability in providing high specific strength and low wear rate. To vanquish the limitations, bi-reinforcements such as carbon nanotube (CNTs) and fly ash(FAs) were used in alumnium metal matrix. In this work wear and friction properties of composite fabricated by powder-metallurgy were investigated. It was found that CNT and FA reinforced aluminium composite (Al/CNT-FA) manifests improved tribological properties over unreinforced matrix material and mono reinforced composites. The worn surfaces reveal that the wear was governed by the combination of adhesive and abrasive wear mechanism. (paper)