Investigation of mechanical and tribological behavior of Al-Ni-Co-MWCNT composites prepared by powder metallurgy technique

Abstract

The intended research is to improve the mechanical and tribological properties of Al-Ni-Co alloy by reinforcing the alloy with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) using powder metallurgy. In this work MWCNT content varied from 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 as wt. % and mixed with the Al-Ni-Co matrix. The composites are fabricated by cold compaction and conventional sintering technique. The presence of homogenous distribution was analyzed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The hardness of the composites was also explored by using Vickers' indentation and found that porosity plays a vital role and it directly influences the hardness and the mechanical properties. The wear behavior of the composites was measured using the Pin-on-Disc method at room temperature. The results revealed that 84.5Al-10Ni-4Co-1.5MWCNT possessed less volume loss (0.458 mm3) and coefficient of friction (0.45) compared to other samples. After wear analysis, the surface morphology was analyzed using SEM. The outcome of the research is MWCNT plays a vital role to improve the mechanical and tribological properties of Al-Ni-Co composites.