Tribological Behaviour of MoS2 and Graphite Reinforced Aluminium Matrix Composites

Abstract

Tribological behaviour of MoS2 and graphite reinforced aluminium matrix composites were investigated in this research. In the current scenario, applications in which either metal based alloys or composites are used, requires lubrication to avoid friction. In such cases, self-lubricating materials based aluminium composites can be fabricated to exhibit better tribological properties. These materials can be fabricated by reinforcing self-lubricating materials like graphite (Gr), molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) and so on within the aluminium matrix. In this tribological study, two different solid lubricants (Gr and MoS2) were taken at equal proportions to fabricate aluminium matrix composites individually through stir casting method. Pin on Disc apparatus was utilized to record the rate of wear of the composite specimen by considering the process parameters like sliding distance, load and counter-face disc hardness. Experiments were designed by Taguchi’s approach and analyzed by means of response values and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results depicted that graphite based aluminium alloy composites possessed better wear resistance than MoS2 reinforced aluminium alloy composites.