The effect of a T6 heat treatment on the fretting wear of a SiC particle-reinforced A356 aluminum alloy matrix composite

The fretting wear behavior of an A356 aluminum alloy reinforced by 15 vol.% 10 μm silicon carbide particle with and without T6 heat treatment is investigated, when tested against a bearing steel ball (SJU2-QT) at different applied loads (5–20 N) and fretting cycles (104–106 cycles) under a ball/flat contact. It is proven that T6 heat treatment of composites offers better fretting wear resistance compared with that without heat treatment. The effect of load on the fretting wear damage reveals that the wear loss volume of the composite is increased with the increase of the load. At higher load, the aluminum matrix in the composite is transferred from the composite to the counterface steel ball. However, at low load, the SiC particles in the composites have high probability to abrade the steel ball seriously. After long cycle duration, the plastic deformation of the composite becomes more serious, meanwhile, the debris transferred from the steel ball to the composite is accumulated. The heap volume becomes larger, and the net wear volume becomes small or even negative.