Dry Tribological Performance of Al-based Composites Reinforced by Continuous Ceramic

The tribological behavior of two types of ceramic frames reinforced 7075 Al alloy against Cr12 steel have been studied with oscillating dry friction and wear tester, one is for 3-D continuous foam ceramic and the other is for 2-D continuous comb ceramic. The testing temperatures are 70 degrees C and 270 degrees C, for 30min under the load from 40N to 100N. The experimental results show that it is characteristic of abrasive wear and oxidation wear mechanisms for both continuous ceramic/Al-7075 composites. The friction resistance of comb ceramic reinforced composite is better than foam ceramic reinforced composite, since the former is with continuous ceramic frame on the worn surface while the latter is with discontinuous hard convex on the plane. In addition, the composite reinforced by 2-D comb ceramic exhibits better high-temperature friction resistance than the one reinforced by 3-D foam ceramic, for the metal matrix filling in comb ceramic is not continuous in 3-D space, which leads to the deterioration of thermal metal softening at high temperature.