Optimization of Tribological Parameters in Al6061/SiC Metal Matrix Composite by Taguchi’s Technique

Tribological behavior of aluminium alloy Al 6061 reinforced with silicon carbide (10%) fabricated by stir casting process was investigated. Dry sliding wear test was conducted to understand the tribological behavior of samples. This study is carried out to optimize the tribological properties: wear rate & frictional force of Al / SiC metal matrix composite. The experiments were conducted as the Taguchi design of experiment. A L9 orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data. The wear parameters chosen for the experiment were: sliding speed, applied load & sliding distance. Each parameter was assigned three levels. Signal to Noise ratio analysis has been carried out to determine optimal parametric condition, which yields minimum wear rate & frictional force. Investigation to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on wear rate, as well as the frictional force during wearing process was carried out using ANOVA and regression equations for each response were developed. Objective of the model was chosen as “smaller the better” characteristics to analyze the dry sliding wear resistance. Result show that sliding distance and load have the highest influence on minimum wear rate and frictional force respectively. Finally, confirmation tests were carried out to verify the experimental results and Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) studies were done on the wear surfaces.