Modeling of Dry Conditioned Sliding Wear and Friction Behavior of Heat-Treated Silicon Nitride Strengthened Al Metal Matrix Nanocomposites

In the presented work, the sliding wear under dry conditions and friction behaviour of Si₃N₄ reinforced high-strength Aluminum alloy (AA)7068 nanocomposites have been investigated under various loads, sliding velocity, and rubbing distances. The fabrication of nanocomposites has been done by using the stir casting technique with the advancement of ultrasonication. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Elemental mapping, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) are used to analyze the microstructure of prepared nanocomposites and worn surfaces. The wear resistance improves with the incorporation of Si₃N₄ particles in Al 7068 alloy and further increases by increasing the weight % of reinforcement. The reinforcement is done by 0.5, 1, and 1.5 % Si₃N₄ by weight. ANOVA reveals that sliding distance is the most dominating factor in the wear loss of samples, and load became the most influential parameter in the coefficient of friction (COF). Microstructure reveals grain boundaries become discontinued after T6 heat treatment. AMNCs containing 1.5wt.% Si₃N₄ shows minimum wear loss compared to other nanocomposites and alloys.