CHARACTERIZATION AND TRIBO MECHANICAL ANALYSIS FOR FABRICATED ALUMINIUM ALLOY FOAM

Abstract

Aluminium alloy foam is a light-weight and porous material characterized by its unique combination of mechanical, structural, and functional properties. Aluminium alloy foams can be fabricated through various conventional and non-conventional foaming methods. In this research work, aluminium 6063 alloy foam was fabricated using stir casting method with aluminium 6063 alloy as the base metal and titanium hydride as a foaming agent. The structural and mechanical properties of the fabricated aluminium alloy foam were evaluated experimentally. The foam fabrication process was optimized through the Taguchi method coupled with grey relational analysis. The optimized process parameter setting for the foam fabrication was 2 wt.% titanium hydride, 650 °C titanium hydride mixing temperature, and 8 minutes of stirring time. The corresponding values of the optimized response variables were 53.15% porosity, 33.3 MJ/m3 energy absorption, and 25.97 MPa flexural strength. In order to optimize the effect of wear parameters on the tribological properties of stir-cast aluminium 6063 alloy foam, the L93 3 orthogonal array (OA) was designed and modeled statistically. The tribological properties of stir-cast aluminium 6063 alloy and its foam were evaluated by pin-on-disc tests. The optimal tribological properties of the synthesized foam are 0.29 coefficient of friction, 8.6 N frictional force, and 0.00025 mm3 /N-m specific wear rate. The tribological properties of stir-cast aluminium 6063 alloy foam are superior to those of aluminium 6063 alloy and comparable to other aluminium foams described in the literature. Aluminium alloy foams play a vital role in the automotive, aviation, marine, and defense sectors as they are light in weight and have better mechanical, physical, and tribological properties. The fabricated aluminium 6063 alloy foam is the efficient replacement for solid materials used in vehicle frames to achieve improved drivability, stability, crashworthiness, and mileage. Also, the synthesized aluminium 6063 alloy foam is highly suitable replacement for solid materials used in loading and unloading packaged goods in the shipping industry, which involves sliding and rubbing with other surfaces.