The investigation of tribological properti̇es of SiC particles reinforced nickel aluminum bronze alloy by using friction stir process

In this study, wear and mechanical properties of nickel aluminum bronze (NAB) alloys reinforced with silicon carbide (SiC) particles procuded using friction stir processing (FSP) were investigated. During the experiments, five different ratios (% 10, %20, %30, %40 and %50) of SiC reinforcing particles were used and they were applied by 1 and 2 passes. As important parameters, travel and rotation speeds of 65 mm/min and 1250 rpm were used, respectively. This study aimed at exploring the wear and microstructure behaviour of surface composite. Wear experiments on the ball-on-disc geometry were carried out under the 5 N load. After the wear test, the worn zones were investigated by Scanning electron microscopy and the wear rate was evaluated by optical profilometer. The result revealed that a composite zone was composed by applying friction stir processing (FSP) on nickle aluminum bronze alloy. In NAB alloys that was reinforced with SiC particles, a considerable amount of improvement in the physical and mechanical properties of the alloy could be obtained. Due to selected parameters and tool geometry, the obtained microstructures were heterogenous after the first passes, but following the second passes they have become relatively homogeneous. The result of the investigations revealed that the wear resistance of the reinforced alloy containing 40% reinforcing particles was four times higher than that of the as-received NAB alloy.