Effect of praseodymium addition on wear properties of Al-15%Mg2Si composites

Abstract

Nowadays, aluminium metal matrix composites are widely used in various industrial applications, especially in automotive and aerospace industries. In engineering, rare earth elements (RE), such as yttrium, neodymium and cerium are widely used as alloying elements to improve the strength and wear resistance of composite materials. Therefore, this research project was done to investigate the effect of praseodymium (Pr) addition on wear behaviour of aluminium MMC of Al-15%Mg2Si composite. Microstructure analysis was carried out by using optical and SEM analyses. In addition, Vicker hardness and dry sliding wear tests were conducted to measure the effectiveness of Pr addition on mechanical and tribological properties of the fabricated composites. The result showed that Pr addition affected the microstructure and wear properties of aluminium composites. Pr addition with 1.0 wt% concentration gave the highest Mg2Si phase density of area and lowest value of wear rate with average wear rate of 2.3 mm3/km for 20 N applied load compared to 2.4 mm3/km for the base composite which indicated the positive effect of Pr addition on the wear resistance of composites.