Experimental investigation on mechanical and tribological characteristics of aluminium 7075 cenosphere molybdenum disulphide composites

Abstract

Composite materials are custom-tailored materials that are expected to newlinemeet certain proficient properties of requirements. The incredible support for newlinethe composites became tremendous as they have evolved into one of the newlineadvanced research and development areas. Among the composite materials, newlinemetal matrix composite materials are finding their applications in the newlineAutomobile and aeronautical/aerospace industries due to enhanced properties newlineand performance compared with the monolithic metals. Many researchers have newlinefabricated and investigated metal matrix composites according to their specific newlineneeds and applications. Most of the research was carried out using various newlinealloys of aluminium as the matrix and the reinforcements used were ceramic newlineparticulate powders. newlineAluminium alloys are used mostly in metal matrix composites due to newlinetheir high strength to weight ratio and the abundant availability of the newlinematerials. Aluminium 7075 alloy is considered one of the superior aluminium newlinealloys with good mechanical and corrosion resistance properties. Ceramic newlineparticulate reinforcements such as silicon carbide, alumina, graphite and boron newlinecarbide were used to improve the desired properties of the composites. newlineUnconventional reinforcements like cenosphere/fly-ash were used to improve newlinethe tribological properties of the composites. Solid lubricants like molybdenum newlinedisulphide were also used to resist the wear of the composites. newlineThe primary focus of the research was to utilize an unconventional newlinereinforcement and also an industrial waste cenosphere, as the primary newlinereinforcement to fabricate an eco-friendly composite material of low cost and newlinesimple production process and a solid lubricant, molybdenum disulphide as the newlinesecondary reinforcement. newline