Macro and nanoscale wear behaviour of Al-Al 2 O 3 nanocomposites fabricated by selective laser melting

Aluminium-based composites are increasingly applied within the aerospace and automotive industries. Tribological phenomena such as friction and wear, however, negatively affect the reliability of devices that include moving parts; the mechanisms of friction and wear are particularly unclear at the nanoscale. In the present work, pin-on-disc wear testing and atomic force microscopy nanoscratching were performed to investigate the macro and nanoscale wear behaviour of an Al-Al2O3 nanocomposite fabricated using selective laser melting. The experimental results indicate that the Al2O3 reinforcement contributed to the macroscale wear-behaviour enhancement for composites with smaller wear rates compared to pure Al. Irregular pore surfaces were found to result in dramatic fluctuations in the frictional coefficient at the pore position within the nanoscratching. Both the size effect and the working-principle difference contributed to the difference in frictional coefficients at both the macroscale and the nanoscale