Influence of SiC reinforcement on the abrasive wear response of an Al-Cu alloy under conditions of varying abrasive size and applied load

Abstract

Aluminium-copper alloys fall into the category of aluminium-based alloys which attain high strengths and are used in a variety of engineering applications [1]. In many such applications, elevated temperature properties are also required [2]. Dispersion of hard dispersoid phases in aluminium-based alloys has been one of the most successful measures to attain this goal. The available information indicates that the presence of the (hard) dispersoid second phase particles (SPPs) has wide potential significantly to improve the abrasion resistance of aluminium alloy matrix composites [3–6]. Thus, the aluminium copper alloy=hard particle composites can also be used for abrasion resistant applications provided their behaviour in such conditions is known. The latter is also important as the abrasion resistance of materials is greatly influenced by factors such as applied load, abrasive size etc.