AUTHOR=Sahu Mohit Kumar , Sahu Raj Kumar TITLE=Experimental Investigation, Modeling, and Optimization of Wear Parameters of B4C and Fly-Ash Reinforced Aluminum Hybrid Composite JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physics VOLUME=8 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2020.00219 DOI=10.3389/fphy.2020.00219 ISSN=2296-424X ABSTRACT=

Lightweight and high-wear performance materials are currently in demand for various advanced applications in areas such as aerospace and automobiles. These demands can be achieved by hybrid aluminum matrix composites (HAMCs), as they possess excellent mechanical and tribological properties which can be customized using more than one reinforcement. Boron carbide (8 wt.%) and fly-ash (2 wt.%) reinforced hybrid aluminum 7075 composite was successfully fabricated using a stir-casting route. Wear is a crucible phenomenon that occurs over the interaction of surfaces and affects the performance of the material. To investigate wear behavior of developed HAMC, dry sliding wear tests were conducted based on the central composite design, taking the specific wear rate as a response parameter. Modeling of wear parameters is crucial, as it helps to predict the value of the wear response at the given set of input parameters without performing experimentation. Response surface method (RSM) was used for the modeling of wear parameters to develop an empirical model of specific wear rate in terms of load, sliding speed, and sliding distance. The high value of the coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.9894) illustrates the goodness of fit of the developed model. Moreover, the optimal condition of wear parameters was determined as 20 N load, 1.5 m/s sliding speed, and 500 m sliding distance; the predicted value of specific wear rate in this set of parameters is 0.2 × 10−5 mm3/N-m. The validation test at optimal conditions was performed and the specific wear rate was found to be 0.205 × 10−5 mm3/N-m, which shows good agreement with the predicted value. The worn-out surface and debris were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and electron dispersive spectrums (EDS) to completely explore the mechanism of wear.