Abstract
The goal of this research is to compare the wear characteristics of as-cast AA7178 alloy and AA7178 alloy reinforced with hybrid composites of fly ash and ZrO2 (5% and 5%) by using a novel encapsulating feeding of reinforcements in a stir-casting technique. The samples for both groups were fabricated using a novel encapsulating approach in the stir-casting method. A hybrid composite of fly ash (5%), ZnO2 (5%), and AA7178 were mixed to prepare group 2 samples, whereas AA7178 as-cast was used for group 1. The samples were prepared following ASTM E92 standards, and their wear properties were examined using pin-on-disc equipment. Each group contains 20 samples. The G-Power for this procedure is 80%, α = 0.05 per set for determining sample size, and the sum of two sample size groups is 40. The maximum wear rate in as-cast AA7178 alloy material made with 0% reinforcement exhibits a 73.82% wear rate compared to the material made with AA7178 alloy with 5% fly ash and 5% ZrO2. T-test statistical analysis shows a significant p = 0.00 (p < 0.05) difference in the mean-variance of wear rate between groups 1 and 2. Within the limitations of this study, it is noticed that adding 5% fly ash and 5% ZrO2 reinforcement with AA7178 alloy significantly decreases the wear rate of a material.
doi: 10.17756/nwj.2023-s3-004
Citation: Mahesh K, Natrayan L, Richard T. 2023. Experimental Investigation on Tribological Properties of AA7178 Reinforced ZrO2/Fly Ash Metal Matrix Composite Using Novel Encapsulate Technique. NanoWorld J 9(S3): S16-S21.