Title: Solid particle erosion behaviour of cenosphere reinforced LM6 (Al-Si12) matrix alloy composites

Authors: Tanusree Bera; S.K. Acharya; Goutam Sutradhar

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, Rourkela-769008, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, Rourkela-769008, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata-700032, India

Abstract: Solid particle erosion of squeeze-cast LM6 (Al-Si12)/cenosphere composites was investigated at ambient temperature. Experiments were performed with different weight percentages (5%, 7.5%, 10% and 12.5%) of composites, having four velocities (48 m/s, 70 m/s, 82 m/s and 109 m/s), at impact angle (30°, 45°, 60° and 90°) and with silica sand as abrasive particle. The eroded surfaces were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results revealed that the particle velocity and impact angle affected the erosion behaviour of the composites. It was found that with the addition of reinforcement to the matrix, the erosion rate was increased at high particle velocities or upon increasing impact angle. The erosion mechanisms observed for the composites are micro ploughing and micro cutting at low impact angles, whereas at high impact angles the erosion of the composites is due to fracture.

Keywords: squeeze-cast; LM6 (Al-Si12) matrix alloy; cenosphere; erosion rate; scanning electron microscopy; SEM; impact angle; composites; solid particle erosion; micro ploughing; micro cutting; particle velocity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMATEI.2017.090234

International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation, 2017 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.206 - 221

Received: 05 Jul 2017
Accepted: 21 Sep 2017
Published online: 06 Mar 2018 *

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