Effects of flyash addition on the dry sliding tribological behavior of aluminum composites

Flyash is an industrial waste obtained from thermal power plants. The mixing of flyash particles in the air may cause damage to the environment. In this paper, attempts have been made to utilize the waste flyash particle to fabricate an aluminium composite. Three aluminium composites with fly-ash (5 wt%-10 wt%) were fabricated using a stir casting with vortex technique. Wear and friction behavior of the aluminium flyash composites was evaluated using a linear reciprocating tribometer at 0.38 Mpa pressure and 10 Hz frequency against a mild steel counter surface. It is established that flyash contents enhanced the wear and friction behavior of the aluminium metal composite. The aluminium-flyash composite with 10 wt% flyash particles yields the lowest amount of wear, friction coefficient value and maximum hardness among the fabricated materials. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images also indicated the lower microcutting and wear wedges on the 10 wt% flyash composite.