The effect of silver on wear behaviour of zinc–aluminium-based ZA-12 alloy produced by gravity casting

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different weight concentrations of silver (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 wt.%) on the microstructure, hardness and wear properties of the gravity cast zinc–aluminium based alloy ZA-12. The alloys were manufactured under nitrogen protective atmosphere by a gravity casting process. Metallographic studies reveal that the addition of silver to the standard ZA-12 alloy changed the volume fraction and structure of the primary β-dendrites in the ZA-12 alloy. Also, it was observed that the addition of silver to ZA12 alloy enhanced the hardness and wear properties effectively. However, the corrosion resistance was decreased with increasing silver content. In addition to this, the highest hardness value among experimental alloys was obtained for the alloy containing 0.7 wt.% Ag with 116 HB. The wear rate for all applied loads is decreased with rising silver content. A similar trend was observed for the friction coefficient. The alloy containing 0.7 wt.% Ag exhibited the highest wear resistance at all loads.