Influence of SiC reinforcement particles on the tribocorrosion behaviour of Al–SiCp FGMs in 0.05M NaCl solution

The main aim of this work was to study and understand the influence of SiC particles on the corrosion and tribocorrosion of Al-matrix composite materials. For that, Al–SiCp functionally graded composites were produced by centrifugal casting and different SiCp contents were achieved. Their mechanical properties were improved by age-hardening heat treatments. The tribocorrosion behaviour was studied in 0.05M NaCl solutions using a reciprocating motion tribometer involving an alumina ball sliding against the Al-based samples. Above critical SiC particles' content the matrix alloy surface was found to be protected against wear by SiC particles protruding from the surface. Below this threshold content, the SiC reinforcement was inefficient and the wear rate of the composite was the same as the non-reinforced alloy.The research team was financially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT-Portugal) under a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/27911/2006). The authors also thank Dr Edith Ariza (University of Minho) and Pierre Mettraux (EPFL) for SEM analysis