Sliding Wear Behaviour of Aluminium Alloy 7075 Grade in Dry and Wet Conditions

Wear is an undesirable loss of material from the operating surface of body occurring as a result of relative motion at its surfaces. Aluminium alloy-7075 grade is an aluminium alloy with zinc as primary alloying element and it has high fatigue strength. Al 7075 grade is mostly used in transport applications, automotive and industrial use due to their good fatigue strength. In this experimental study, wear behaviour of aluminium alloy-7075 grade (5.6-6.1% zinc, 2.1-2.5% magnesium, 1.2-1.6% copper) is examined on Pin-on Disc configuration, and performed at wear and friction monitor machine. Influence of wear parameters sliding speed varying from 1.5 to 3.5 m/s contact distance varying from 1000-2000 m and applied load varying from 20-40 N was examined. Output results of experiments showed that reduction in pin weight (gms) in dry and wet (lubricating) conditions. Results also indicated that sliding distance has the highest influence followed by load and sliding speed. Finally, confirmation tests were carried out to verify the experimental results and microscopic studies were done on wear surfaces.