Effect of particle size and weight fraction of SiC on the mechanical, tribological, morphological, and structural properties of Al-5.6Zn-2.2Mg-1.3Cu composites using RSM: fabrication, characterization, and modelling.

Stir-casting was employed to create Al-5.6Zn-2.2Mg-1.3Cu composites with particle sizes ranging from 30 to 90 μm and a weight fraction of 5-15 SiC articles. The mechanical and wear properties of the material have been assessed. The wear-behaviour of Al-5.6Zn-2.2Mg-1.3Cu composites was investigated using dry pin-on-disc wear testing. Various loads (20 N-60 N), speeds (2 m/s-6 m/s), and sliding-distances were used in the sliding wear experiments (2000 m-4000 m). In the experimental process, XRD, SEM, and EDX were used to characterize the microstructures and materials of diverse composites. Uniform dispersion of the SiC particles is clearly observed in the SEM image. The micro hardness of SiC particles increases by 13% when the weight percent of SiC particles is increased from 5% to 15%. SiC particles outperform tiny SiC particles in terms of wear-resistance. With increasing load, the particular wear-rate showed an increasing trend (20-60 N). The wear-rate of the composite lowers as the weight percentage reinforcement increases (wt. 5% to wt. 15%), and the wear-rate of the composite increases when the particle-size (30 μm-90 μm) increases. The results demonstrated that composites supplemented with coarse SiC particles outperform tiny SiC particles in terms of wear resistance.

Introduction

In all service-situations, conventional materials might not always offer the necessary characteristics. Metal-matrix composites are superior materials that are produced by combining two or more materials (one metal and one non-metal) in which composite structures are made [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Numerous approaches have been employed to manufacture such metal-matrix composites by incorporating a reinforcing-phase into the matrices. Among all the production methods, the stir casting production method is simple and inexpensive [6].

In all material properties of metal matrixes, a combination of aluminum matrix is an important factor in the application of tribology due to its low-density and high thermal-temperatures [7]. Due to the advantages of aluminum alloys and composite in terms of high specific strength, high processability, primarily anti-erosion, increased conductivity, eco-friendliness, and recoverability, aluminium alloys are widely used in a variety of industries, including wind and solar energy management, automotive body structures, electric module packaging, and electronic technology. The dispersion phase in aluminium matrix composites (AMMCs) can be one of the following: continuous-boron or graphite-fibers, or solid-particles like SiC and Al2O3 in a permanent particle or whisker-morphology. Among all composites, particulates reinforced metal matrix is highly recommended by researchers, due to their ease of processing, low manufacturing costs, and almost isotropic-properties in comparison with fiber reinforcing MMCs. It has been widely accepted for the constant need for lightweight, highly functional components, in aerospace, aviation, and more recently the automotive industry [7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12].

In the automotive industry, aluminium-based composite materials have been scrutinized as materials used in the manufacture of rotor brakes, pistons, cylinder liners, and crankshafts. In all these cases significant materials losses occur in the form of wear, so the selection of dispersion and matrix phases is an important factor in ensuring better and more reliable performance in any tribological application [12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18]. There are several methods used to measure the properties of composites: measuring hardness, scratching, and wear testing as shown in the literature [18, 19, 20, 21]. Throughout the process, the wear test best illustrates the resistance of the combination as it covers a very large area of the test template and shows the actual wear in the opposing area. Some of the most relevant lessons are given below:

Bindumadhavan [5] explored the influence of multiple-particles size (MPS) on the wear and mechanical-properties of the MMC particulate. According to his research, the development of wear resistance of MPS composite could be related to the potential of large SiC-particles to carry a large-portion of the applied-load, as well as the function of large SiC-particles in small protections. Extra SiC-particles start the withdrawal during the wear-process. In addition, the amalgamation of large particles increases the potency of impact-energy, as associated with MPS composites of smaller particles [5, 6].

Shaoyang Zhang examined dry sliding-wear and friction of brakes material, against two Al-matrix composites supplemented with various SiC-particles. It was discovered that brake materials deployed against the latter had superior friction and wear-resistance than those used against the former, which was linked to smaller size SiCp-pullout and the creation of thin tribo-films. The friction coefficient declined with increasing load and speed in both cases, and ultimately, settled at two temps. of 177 and 316 degrees Celsius. At high temperatures, friction fade occurred, accompanied by outstanding recovery after chilling. Furthermore, the specific wear-rate rise with increasing load and speed, but decreased with increasing temp [7].

In addition, to developing very superior mechanical characteristics in the composites, the rising price of the composite is largely due to the costly SiC reinforcements. The AMMCS are more costly, the greater the weight-fraction, and the finer the size of the reinforcing-particles. Experiments with different SiC weight fractions and size distributions are needed to lower the SiC-associated cost of AMMCs. undertaken to look at the effect of reinforcing the size and weight % on the sliding worn surfaces of Al 7075 matrix-composites at a similar period [11, 12, 13, 14].

In light of the foregoing, the purpose of this work is to examine the combined influence of SiC particle-size and weight % on mechanical behavior and the sliding wear mechanism of composites. Because of its simplicity, the pin-on-disc setup is often employed in labs for wear tests [22]. As a result, the pin-on-disc test method was employed in the current experiment in accordance with ASTM regulations.

Experimentation

Materials and methods

The shear modulus of 7075 aluminium is 26.9 GPa and the modulus of elasticity is 71.7 GPa. Due to this, it is highly demanded in the aerospace industry. The Al7075 alloy was chosen as the basis matrix in this work. Table 1 below displays the chemical make-up of Al-5.6Zn-2.2Mg-1.3Cu.

Table 1

Composition of Al-7075 alloy.

Chemical Composition	Al	Cr	Cu	Fe	Mg	Zn	Si	Mn	Ti	other
Wt. %	89.652	0.082	1.37	0.32	2.23	5.68	0.45	.087	0.065	.064

Stir-casting was being utilised to make Al7075 composites with 5–15 wt. % SiC with particles ranging from 30 to 90 μm in size. That used an electric heating furnace, the metal was already melted above preheating, at 700 °C, in a carbon crucible beneath a nitrogen gas atmosphere. A mechanical stirring was used to swirl the molten material and induce turbulent flow during this operation. The depth of the plunged propeller from the base of the crucible was roughly 2/3 of the height of the liquid metal, and the mixer speed was sustained at 600 rpm. To improve the wettability of the reinforcement particles, 1 wt. percent magnesium was added before vigorous stirring. The addition of magnesium in an aluminium matrix composite not just to offers alloying benefits, but likewise lowers the surface-energy and improves wetting-dispersal. Magnesium combines with oxygen on the dispersoid’s interface, decreasing the gaseous layer and promoting wetting and minimizing agglomeration [17].

Eventually, the liquid metal was put into a mild steel die that had been warmed to around 300 degrees Celsius. After casting, the composite formulations were exposed to a T6 heat-treatment, which included a solution-treatment at 490 °C for 2 h, direct quenching into the water, and aging at 120 °C for 20 h [19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]. Figure 1(a) and 1(b) illustrate a photograph and a block diagram of stir casting, respectively.

Figure 1

Shows the setup of stir casting, (a) Illustrate the actual picture of the setup, and (b) Schematic diagram of the setup [34].

Material characterization techniques can help determine the crystal structure of materials as well as their elemental content. A Phillips x-port type XRD is used to conduct XRD analysis on MMCs.

Dry-sliding wear-testing was carried out using a pin on the disc wear-testing system. DUCOM machine, type TR-20LE, was used during the testing. All trials were conducted in line with ASTM G99-04. The pin on disc equipment utilised in the investigation is depicted schematically in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Detailed view of the pin on disc equipment [34].

The experiments were conducted at room temperature with no lubricant. Cast samples were cut into 12 m in diameter and 30 mm long specimens, which were subsequently machined and polished. The flattened surface layer of the casting sample (pin) should indeed come in direct-contact with the rotating-disc. The pin is positioned firmly on a revolving EN32 disc (hardness of 70HRC) during the test by applying a force that serves as a counter-weight and holds the pin. For every batch of trials, the track-diameter was adjusted between 60 and 120 mm, while the load, sliding-speed, and sliding-distance were adjusted between the ranges listed in Table 2.

Table 2

Parameter for the sliding wear.

Parameters	Units	Levels
		−1	0	1
Sliding speed	m/s	2	4	6
Load	N	20	40	60
Sliding distance	m	2000	3000	4000
wt. %	%	5	10	15
Particles size	μm	30	60	90

A load-cell (LVDT) on the leverage arms measures the arm’s motion/position ​and aids in the evaluation of wear during any specified instant. When the contact-surface wears-off, the force pulls the arms to maintain contact with the disk. This arm motion produces a signal that is being used to determine maximal wear, and the friction-coefficient is analyzed continuously as wear appears to happen. Following thorough rinsing with acetone solvent, the weight-loss of every sample was recorded prior to & immediately following an ​experiment using a single-pan digital-weight apparatus with a sensitivity of 0.0001 g. Figure 2 displays the sliding-wear parameters.

Results and discussions

Microstructure and mechanical properties analysis

The mechanical behavior and wear characterisation of the stirrer is discussed in this section of the study. Tensile testing of all composite is done according to the ASTM A-370. ASTM a-370 is used for the aluminium alloy, so with respect to that in a study, this ASTM standard is used for the AMMCs. During testing of all composites, dumb-bell shape samples are prepared.

For most situations, hard ceramic particles have been added to the aluminum-based matrix to enhance the strength, stiffness, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, fatigue life, and good thermal stability. Silicon carbide (SiC) particles are fully stable with aluminium and create a sufficient connection with the matrix without forming an interfacial phase. They also have excellent heat conductivity, are inexpensive, and are easy to deal with. Although tensile testing is not suggested for investigating the failure mode of SiC reinforced aluminium composites, it is done to get stress and strain graphs that can be used to calculate proof stress and ultimate strength. The physicomechanical characteristics for Al7075 composites have been illustrated in Table 3.

Table 3

Mechanical properties of Al7075 composites.

S. no.	Al 7075 + (wt. %)	Particles size (μm)	Theoretical density (g/cm3)	Density (g/cm3)	Porosity (%)	Hardness (Vickers hardness (10kg) Hv	UTS (MPa)	.2% Proof
1	+5 wt. % SiC	30	2.823	2.8207	0.0815	224	342	210
2		60	2.823	2.820	0.1063	220	322	193
3		90	2.823	2.819	0.1417	210	305	172
4	+10 wt. % SiC	30	2.837	2.832	0.1762	235	361	230
5		60	2. 837	2.831	0.2115	230	344	210
6		90	2. 837	2.830	0.2467	220	322	194
7	+15 wt. % SiC	30	2.855	2.847	0.2802	243	373	242
8		60	2.855	2.846	0.3152	239	342	210
9		90	2.855	2.845	0.3503	230	297	165

The composites' tensile strength declines by 15% as the particle size (90 μm) improves, whereas the composites' elongation rises. The ductile material design of the product is always considered near to proof stress. In this paper, proof stress was calculated based on .2 % offset and a Comparison of the all-composite proof yield strength is shown in Figure 3(a & b).

Figure 3

a. Comparison of Tensile strength (MPa) in different composite samples, and b. Comparison of proof yield strength (MPa) in different composite samples.

The contrary behaviour of bigger SiC (90 μm) particles with aluminum grain boundary is shown in Figure 10. These opposite-behaving reactions occur throughout the blending process and can change the matrix structure, affecting the strength of metallic particle composites. It is broadly acknowledged that composites-reinforced with smaller SiC-particles have a higher reinforcement/matrix surface-energy and lesser interparticle-spacing, allowing additional force to be transferred from the softer-matrices to the harder reinforcement material and improving composite work hardening and tensile strength [10, 20]. Due to the reduced interparticle-gap and higher work-hardened rates, it is noted from the experimental results that lowering the reinforced-size can lead to a fine morphology and improved mechanical performance for a specific particle-weight percent. Increases in both direct and indirect-strengthening are noted as particle-size decreases. The contact-area between the matrix and the SiC-particles increases as the SiC particle-size reduces, permitting the additional force to be transferred from the matrices to the SiC-particles. It is indeed noteworthy that a large interfacial area might aid the matrices in producing many distortions/microcracks, fracture-voids/discontinuities, which enhances mechanical-performance [20]. Heavier particles, on the other hand, collapse more rapidly than tiny-particles during the tensile-testing method for two considerable factors [26]. To begin with, larger-particles have a higher interaction-area with the matrices, leading to increased stress-concentration. Moreover, the intrinsic defects inside the particle influence the particle fracture toughness. Because a fault’s size is restricted by the particle’s size, heavier-particles are more prone to fractures since they have a considerably better statistical-probability of producing a defect/imperfection bigger than that of the critical-size [27]. The composites with higher SiC particle sizes show tensile strength deterioration because the shattered particles cannot bear any stress and behave as favoured failure sites.

Figure 10

Formation of Agglomeration due to high weight % and fine particles (SiC wt. 15% and particles size 30 μm).

The hardness of the material is assessed three times with a Vickers micro-hardness instrument to eliminate the potential of the indenter-testing on hard-particles, which could result in an unusual result. The composites' hardness was determined by applying a 10 kg force for 15 s. The hardness of the composite is found to rise as the wt. % of the reinforcing concentration increases. The rationale is that the concentration of SiC particles increases hardness, and because SiC-particles are tougher than Al-alloy particles, the materials impart their intrinsic-hardness to the soft-matrices.

As a result, as the particle size of the composites decreased, the hardness of the composites improved. The number of particles in the composite material rose in the very similar weight-fraction therefore, as a consequence of the small particles, causing a significant obstruction in the material flow during the stressed state. It also includes greater interfacial regions between the reinforcements and the matrix to transmit the outwardly load imposed from the matrices to the reinforcements [17, 20]. According to previous work [21], bigger SiC-particles render the matrices highly ductile, however, have poorer-resistance to dent-deformation. Due to the widest scales among hardness tests in Vickers hardness, the majority of researchers preferred the Vickers hardness test. Therefore, comparisons of hardness (as for the Vickers hardness test at 10 kg load) of all Composites are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

Vickers hardness (Hv) of various composite material samples.

The inclusion of 15 wt. percent SiC particles of 30 μm resulted in a peak hardness of 239 Hv. The 15wt. percent SiC composite (30μm) particles were 26 percent tougher than the comparable Al 7075 Alloy, as shown in Figure 2. The combined effect of a denser matrix and hard ceramic particles may also increase the hardness of composite materials.

Ceramic-reinforcements employed in MMCs are commonly non-wettable even by metallic-melt, necessitating the application of an auxiliary motivating driving factor to surmount surface-energy barriers. The melt is stirred with a mechanical impeller to create this force. Alloy chemistry, particle addition temperature, starring rate, reinforcement grain size, and weight fraction are among the characteristics that govern the wetting of the reinforcements and substructure of composite materials, according to research.

To obtain information regarding the boundary between both the reinforcement and the matrix material, X-ray diffraction and EDX analyses are used. Figures 5 and 6 demonstrate the distinct patterns displayed in the peaks of Al7075 and fine SiC particles (30 μm) composite and Al7075 bigger SiC particles (90 μm) composite. In the case of small particles composites, it is clear that the XRD pattern has extra peaks, indicating the existence of graphite particles [23, 24, 25, 26].

Figure 5

XRD pattern for composites.

Figure 6

EDX result of SiC ceramic-composites.

As a result, the existence of aluminium (in the big-peaks) and SiC-particles is indicated (in the minor-peaks). The microstructural properties of samples were acquired using a high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HR-SEM) operating at 20 kV and 1000 X in this investigation. HR-SEM may be used to magnify practically any material at high magnification. HR-SEM and energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) tends to help to determine exactly the type of elements/components prevalent in specimens. [7], [8] show SEM and EDX images of fine SiC particles (30μm) composite and Al7075 high weight percent SiC particles (15%) composite, respectively.

SEM images of the fine particles (30 μm) composites.

SEM images of high weight % SiC (wt. 15%) composites.

The dispersion of the reinforced particle is the most essential component of the microstructure. The Al7075/SiC microstructure is characterized by SEM and displays a homogenous dispersion of SiC-particles embedded in an aluminium matrix. The clustering development of the material is shown to rise as the wt. % of the particles increases.

If the weight % (5 wt. % to 15 wt. %) and particle size (30 μm–90 μm) increased together the properties of the composite material decreased drastically. The uncooperative behaviour of large size particles (90 μm) of SiC with Aluminium grain boundary is shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9

Uncooperative behaviour large size particles (90 μm) of SiC particle with Aluminium.

Archimedes' theory was utilised to determine the density of the samples. The observed density was quantified in terms obtained using the rule-of-mixture method to evaluate the volume-fraction of permeability/porosity [12] (ROM). Table 3 provides a comparative analysis of analytical and empirical densities. Fine particles (30 μm) with high wt. % (15%) are creating the issue of agglomeration. An increase in the cluster formation of reinforcement in the material is experiential with the rise of the weight-fraction of the particles. These phenomena are observed due to extra obstacles produced during stirring and these obstacles reduce the fluidity of the SiC particles inside the aluminium solution. Formation of Agglomeration due to high weight % and fine particles (SiC wt. 15% and particles size 30 μm) one can perceive in Figure 10.

From density measurements, it is concluded that for all composite-materials, density is similar closer to the expected theoretical-value. Detail comparison can be observed in Table 3.

The presence of a gap, on the other hand, indicates the presence of porosity. Microphotographs taken with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) reveal pores and support the findings, as shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11

Increase in permeability and porous due to uncooperative behaviour of large particles (90 μm).

The element life of a machine is a significant design concern. Wear is a frequent thing in all elements that move relative to each other, such as cylinders, engine bores, connecting rods, driveshafts, brake rotors, bearings, and so on. As a result, wear should be considered in order when developing these elements to offer superior and much more reliable functionality operations in any rheological usages. All theories of wear show that when a hard surface moves against and cuts a groove in a softer surface, more than 46 percent wear occurs. It can be blamed for the majority of failures in a practical application. As a result, a complete wear analysis was performed utilising a pin on disc wear machine in the current work.

In addition to various influencing elements, the wear adhesion mechanism leans on the great precision of tribology behaviour. An increase in load causes the material to wear out faster and lose its integrity. The rubbing time causes the first surface. layers to clean up and the strength of the connections to improve. The friction force caused by the tillage impact on the surfaces, as well as temperature, adhesion, and surface layer deformation, all contribute to increased material loss. When two surfaces collide, normal and tangential loads are conveyed through the interacting asperities, which are necessarily present on a material surface.

Tests and delimitation theory have shown that the subsurface experiences deformations during the sliding wear process, with the largest plastic strain occurring under the contact area [27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33].

The wear behaviour of the (a) 5 wt.% SiC particles (30 μm), (b) 15 wt.% SiC particles (90 μm) (c) 15 wt.% SiC particles (60 μm) (d) 10 wt.% SiC particles (30 μm) is shown in Figure 12a, b, c and d. It is clearly illustrated from Figure 12a, b, c and d that composite which has larger particles (90 μm) and has very high wt.% are wear out easily and SIC particles are pulled out from the contact surface.

Figure 12

Wear behaviour of the (a) 5 wt.% SiC particles (30 μm), (b) 15 wt.% SiC particles (90 μm), (c) 15 wt.% SiC particles (60 μm), (d) 10 wt.% SiC particles (30 μm).

Influence of input parameters on specific wear-rate using RSM

RSM was utilised for the experiment design as well as the evaluation of the findings gathered during the study. RSM is a set of empirical tactics, mathematical tools, and statistical assumptions that allow a researcher to conduct an efficient experimental study of a system or process. RSM is a statistical approach for determining and simultaneously solving multi-variable equations that leverage quantifiable information from appropriate studies. This method is widely used to statistically analyse findings in a variety of academic domains. These tests are summarised using ANOVA. In addition, for each ANOVA analysis, interactions, prediction vs. actual-result, and a 3D response-surface are created. These graphs are used to look into the effects of various wear behavior on the wear rate.

Figure 13a, b, c and d demonstrate interaction effect of weight fraction (%) and load (m/s) on specific wear rate (mm3/Nm). In this interaction plot, it is examined that with increasing weight fraction and decreasing sliding speed specific wear rate is reduced. The reason behind this is already explained by many researchers that the increase of weight fraction of reinforcement of hard particles of SiC is also increasing. Due to those materials, resistance capacity is also increased.

Figure 13

3D plots of the sliding wear input parameter with respect to specific wear rate in (a) the combined effect of load and sliding speed (b) the combined effect of wt.% SiC and sliding speed (c) the combined effect of sliding distance and particle size, and (d) the combined effect of particle size and sliding speed.

The wear parameter values are calculated using a central composite design matrix comprising 50 experiments with coded and real independent process variables. The model has an F-value of 26.91, suggesting that it is statistical significance. Cause unnecessary, there is only a 0.01 statistical probability that a “Model F-value” this large will arise. Regression coefficients are important if the value of “Prob > F” is below 0.0500. A, B, and D are important model-terms in this instance. If the result is more than 0.1000, then the model-terms are irrelevant/worthless. The “Pred R-Squared” of 0.7596 agrees with both the “Adj R-Squared” of 0.8639 in a fairway. The signal-to-noise ratio is estimated using “Adeq Precision.” It is ideal to have a proportion that is higher than 4. The present CCD model ratio of 23.046 suggests that the signal is appropriate as depicted in Table 4. This model is adaptable.

Table 4

ANOVA table for the sliding wear of Al7065 composites.

Source	Sum of Squares	DOF	Mean Square	F Value	p-value Prob > F	Significance
Model	20.47811	12	1.706509	26.91398	<0.0001	Significant
A-Sliding speed	3.064232	1	3.064232	48.32711	<0.0001
B-load	9.602586	1	9.602586	151.4459	<0.0001
C-sliding Distance	0.414346	1	0.414346	6.534806	0.0148
D-wt%	3.865352	1	3.865352	60.96187	<0.0001
E-particle size	0.25695	1	0.25695	4.05245	0.0514
AB	0.597568	1	0.597568	9.424454	0.004
AD	0.371654	1	0.371654	5.861482	0.0205
AE	0.408413	1	0.408413	6.441227	0.0155
BC	0.189616	1	0.189616	2.990507	0.0921
BE	0.374708	1	0.374708	5.909651	0.02
CD	0.886659	1	0.886659	13.98383	0.0006
CE	0.446029	1	0.446029	7.034488	0.0117
Residual	2.346024	37	0.063406
Lack of Fit	2.346024	30	0.078201			Not significant
Pure Error	0	7	0
Cor Total	22.82414	49

As can be seen in Figure 14, the prediction results of the damping parameter derived from the conceptual ​developed framework and the results derived from detailed ​actual experimental observations are evenly distributed throughout, which is desirable for validation.

Figure 14

Prediction vs actual result of RSM.

From the perturbation chart (Figure 15) it is found that with the rise of the sliding-speed, sliding-distance, and particle-size and load, from a low level (−1) to a high level (1), the specific wear-rate of Al7075 composites gets increased. However, in the case of weight fraction, increasing weight fraction from low-level to high-level decreases the specific wear rate of Al7075 composites, which validated the observation of the classical study.

Figure 15

Perturbation chart showing the input parameter with respect to specific wear rate.

A, B, C, D, AB, AD, AE, BE, CD, and CE are major model terms in the RSM centre composite model. This analysis is performed at a 5% significance level, which corresponds to a 95% confidence level. The very same statistics Design-Expert 7.0 software package is utilised for the regression-model significance test, the test for relevance on single model-coefficients, and the lack-of-fit test.

The goodness of fit for the models is indicated by the coefficient of determination R2 = 0.989, which is an indicator of the total variance in observable response predicted values which can be described by the control parameters. Table 5 shows the optimal values for the input and output parameters.

Table 5

An optimum value of the input and output parameters.

Parameter	Units	Optimum Value
Sliding speed	m/s	2
Load	N	20
Sliding Distance	M	2000
wt. %	%	15
Particle size	μm	30
Specific wear	mm3/Nm	2.36171E−05 ± 0.02

Conclusions

In this research paper, an experimental analysis of the combined impact of weight % and particles size of SiC-particles on mechanical and tribology properties has been done based on result analysis following observations have been reported.

As the weight % of SiC particles is changed from 5% to 15% the micro hardness is increased ∼ by 13% respectably, it is observed this change in hardness is occur due to the increase in the hindrance particles (SiC particles).

Porosity percentage in the Al-5.6Zn-2.2Mg-1.3Cu composite material increases with the increase wt.-percent and particles size of the reinforcing-particles.

By making a little compromise between mechanical properties and economics, 10% weight fraction and 60 μm particles of the reinforcement are found to be the optimistic material.

The wear-rate of the composite lowers as the wt. %-reinforcement (15 percent). Increased SiC particle addition reduces matrix material deformation in terms of wear parameters, resulting in a low wear rate for composites with a larger proportion (15%) of SiC-particles.

The specific wear-rate reduces as the sliding-frequency rises up to transition-speed (4 m/s) and loading increases are caused by work-hardening of the sample-surface, production of iron-oxide, and pulverizing of the SiC-particles.

Experiments also show that when an extremely higher-load (60N) and a fast speed (6 m/s) are combined, the effect of particle size is insignificant.

The influence of the size of particles on specific wear-rate at higher-load (60N) and higher-speed (6 m/s).

The influence of particle-size on specific wear-rate is negligible for high loads (60N) and fast speeds (6 m/s).

Declarations

Author contribution statement

Ravinder Kumar: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments.

Kanishka Jha, Vineet Kumar, S. Rajkumar: Analyzed and interpreted the data.

Shubham Sharma: Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Changhe Li, Elsayed Mohamed Tag Eldin, G. Królczyk: Analyzed and interpreted the data; Wrote the paper.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability statement

No data was used for the research described in the article.

Declaration of interests statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.