Application of Taguchi Technique to Optimize Tribological Behaviour of Al6061T6/SiC/Al2O3 Metal Matrix Composite

Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy Al6061T6 reinforced with silicon carbide and alumina oxide particles (10%weight percentage of SiC and Al2O3 particles) fabricated by stir casting process was investigated. The wear and frictional properties of the metal matrix composites was studied by performing dry sliding wear test using a computerized pin-on-disc wear tester. Experiments were conducted based on the plan of experiments generated through Taguchi’s technique. A L27 Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data. Investigation is to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process was carried out using ANOVA and regression equations for each response were developed for 10% SiC and Al2O3 reinforced Al-6061 T6 MMC’s. Objective of the model was chosen as “smaller the better” characteristics to analyse the dry sliding wear behaviour. Results show that sliding distance has the highest influence followed by applied load and sliding speed. Among interaction terms, Load*speed and Load*distance was found most affecting term the wear rate and coefficient of friction respectively.