Wear of bauxite-particle-reinforced aluminum alloys

Amounts of 1-20 wt.% bauxite particles were incorporated into Al-12Si-1.4Cu-1.3Mg alloy by the rheocasting method. Bauxite is a starting raw material of alumina with excellent chemical and thermal stability at high temperatures, a low coefficient of thermal expansion and high hardness. The abrasive wear resistance increased with increasing amounts of particulate addition. Under low and moderate loads, the wear resistance of the composite containing 20 wt.% bauxite was comparable with that of carbon steel. However, under high loads, carbon steel was superior to the composites in wear resistance. Particle clustering was observed in the composites owing to the small size of the bauxite particles (-300 mesh); it had little influence on the wear resistance and the mechanical strength of the composites. The sliding wear of the composite containing both bauxite and graphite particles, the matrix alloy and a hypereutectic Al-18Si alloy were also tested.