Tribological Behavior of Solid-State Processed Al-1100/GNP Surface Nanocomposites

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were infused onto aluminum alloy (Al-1100) surface by a solid-state processing technique to form surface nanocomposites which enrich the mechanical and tribological properties of the aluminum (Al) surface. Electrical resistance heating which locally softens the Al surface, followed by hot pressing, mechanically impregnates and embeds GNPs onto the Al substrate. It was observed that the GNPs mainly occupy the grain boundaries in the matrix during subsequent solidification which leads to strengthening of the matrix through various mechanisms. A detailed tribological study was carried out, and it was found that the wear rate and coefficient of friction decreases by > 85%. Least wear depth in nanoscratch testing was obtained at processing parameters 2200 A and 0.5 s, which could be identified as the optimum current/time combination. The microhardness and Young's modulus results also show an improvement > 200%, corroborating the tribological studies.