Wear properties of graphene/zirconia biphase nano-reinforced aluminium matrix composites prepared by SLM

To expand the application of aluminium alloys based on friction and wear, the wear performance of AlSi10Mg, AlSi10Mg-0.3 wt% and AlSi10Mg-0.6 wt% graphene mixed with zirconia dual-phase nano-reinforced aluminium matrix composites is studied through selective laser melting (SLM). The experimental results show that the aluminium matrix composite has a small grain size and a distributed eutectic silicon mesh structure. The reinforced phases of graphene and zirconium oxide are tightly bonded to the matrix, forming a good interfacial bond without pores and faults. In addition, the dispersed distribution of the second phase and the precipitation phase in the matrix causes a pinning effect, which improves the strength, hardness and wear resistance of the aluminium matrix composite. With this increase in the reinforced phase content, the wear resistance of the aluminium matrix composites also increases. The wear loss increases with increasing load, and the wear loss of aluminium matrix composites is less than that of the matrix material itself for the same load. The combined result comprising the self-lubricity of graphene and the wear resistance of zirconia leads to an improvement in the wear resistance of aluminium matrix composites. Another key point is that longitudinal sections are more wear resistant than cross sections when subjected to the same wear conditions.