Characterization of wear and fatigue behavior of aluminum piston alloy using alumina nanoparticles

Abstract Due to their excellent thermal conductivity, lightweight, and ease of processing, aluminum alloys are the material of choice for piston manufacture in internal combustion engines. Nanoparticles (NPs) of alumina (Al2O3) with a size of 25 nm were incorporated into an aluminum piston alloy to examine the effect of the NP addition on wear resistance and fatigue behavior. The stir casting method has been utilized to manufacture experimental samples of the composite material by altering the particle weight ratio of aluminum to the matrix alloy to 2, 4, and 6 wt%. The surface morphology of the samples has been examined using an electronic scanning microscope. The results of the wear and fatigue tests indicate that the addition of Al2O3 to the composite enhanced its fatigue resistance and wear strength, with the exception of 6 wt% weight ratio. The best improvement in wear resistance and fatigue strength occurs at 4 wt% Al2O3 particles, which are 12.13 and 67.5%, respectively, more significant than the pure metal and other composites. The mechanical properties of the alloy samples have been enhanced by adding Al2O3 NPs of 25 nm size into the piston’s aluminum matrix alloy. Stir casting was employed to produce the needed composites by incorporating Al2O3 NPs at varied weight percentage ratios of 0, 2, 4, and 6 wt% into the master alloy. Before the composite alloy reached 6 wt%, including Al2O3 NPs, the alloy’s hardness and tensile strength improved, according to the experiment results.