Materials and Design 50 (2013) 497–502

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Materials and Design

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Short Communication

Reciprocating wear resistance of Al–SiC nano-composite fabricated

by accumulative roll bonding process
E. Darmiani a, I. Danaee a,⇑, M.A. Golozar b, M.R. Toroghinejad b, A. Ashrafi c, A. Ahmadi b
a
Abadan Faculty of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Abadan, Iran
b
Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
c
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this work the wear behaviour of Al–SiC nano-composite, produced by accumulative roll bonding
Received 26 November 2012 process was characterized using a pin-on-flat wear-testing machine. Hence various tests such as
Accepted 14 March 2013 micro-hardness and reciprocating wear test were carried out. Morphology of the worn surfaces of this
Available online 26 March 2013
nano-composite was examined using scanning electron microscope. Experimental results have been
revealed that the wear resistance of this nano-composite increased by increasing the cycle number
due to SiC particles act as a solid lubricant. Also by increasing the cycle’s number the size of SiC particle
becomes less than 100 nm and nano-composite was formed.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction [7,8]. Studies on micro-structure evaluation showed that reinforce-

In the last decade there has been a rapid advance in the field of
nano-composite materials. Metal matrix composites are materials
with metals as the matrix and ceramic phases added as reinforce-
ments to improve the properties. The accumulative roll bonding
process is one of the severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods
invented by Tsuji et al. in 1998, SPD technique includes; equal
channel angular pressing (ECAP), high pressure torsion (HPT),
cyclic extrusion compression (CEC) and accumulative roll bonding
(ARB) [1,2].
Fabrication techniques of ultra fine grain (UFG) and nano-
composite materials are classified into ‘‘Bottom-up’’ and the
‘‘top-down’’ approach. In the bottom-up approach, UFG and
nano-composite materials are fabricated by assembling individual
atoms or by consolidating nano-particulate solids. The top-down
method is exactly inverse because it starts with materials with
conventional crystalline micro-structures, typically metals and
alloys, and micro-structural refinement as well as defects such as
dislocations and point defects are introduced through heavy strain-
ing or shock loading, as in the SPD process. SPD process is a part of
top-down approach [3].
Materials processed by ARB method have shown good mechan-
ical properties such as: wears resistance, the yield strength, com-
pressive strength [4–6], also by addition of non-metallic phases,
Young’s modulus have been increased in metal matrix composites
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 631 4429937.
E-mail address: danaee@put.ac.ir (I. Danaee).
ment was distributed uniformly by ARB passes. Also big cluster of
reinforcement particle and particle free zone was diminished by
increasing ARB passes [9].
Results of various studies have shown that SPD methods
decreasing the grain sizes and also ARB methods increased the
strength and plasticity by the creation of submicron and nano-
crystalline structures in the material [10–12]. Application of metal
matrix composite in marine environments has been developed.
Composites containing SiC have been used in turbine blades in
marine environments. So, it becomes important to investigate the
wear behaviour especially Al–SiC composite produced by this pro-
cess [13,14].
The tribological properties of Al–Mg–Si produced by ECAP
method was reported [4]. Results showed that micro-hardness
and wear resistance increased by number of extrusion passes.
Eizadjou et al. [3] reported that hardness of pure aluminium
processed by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) increased by
increasing the cycles due to strain hardening. It has been shown
that the wear resistance of the severely deformed aluminium
sheets was less than the non-processed sheets [15]. Also Qiao
et al. [16,17] showed that oxide particles on the surface of Al which
become inclusions in the ARB processed enhanced hardness of ARB
processed alloys. During rolling, dislocation genesis caused by
oxide particles, also increasing the grain refinement cause harden-
ing of the grains [18,19].
Nevertheless, some characteristics of ARB processed alloys such
as wear properties need a wider study. The objective of the present
work was to evaluate the wear properties of Al–SiC nano-
composite produced by the ARB process at different cycles.

0261-3069/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2013.03.047
498 E. Darmiani et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 497–502

Table 1
Specification of the commercial purity aluminium.

Material Chemical composition (wt%) Temperature

Al 1050 0.01 Zn, 0.02 Ti, 0.01 Pb, 0.19 Fe, As-received annealed
0.06 Si, 0.01 Cu, 0.05 others at 380 °C

2. Experimental procedure

2.1. Materials

The material used in this study was commercial pure alumin-

ium 1050 as a matrix, whose chemical composition is shown in
Table 1 and SiC particles (<75 lm) were used as reinforcement.
The as received sheets were annealed for 2 h at 380 °C. Acetone
bath and scratch brush used for surface preparation of two strips
with dimensions 20 cm  5 cm  0.1 cm [7]. At each rolling cy-
cles, 0.26 g of SiC particles were dispersed uniformly and cov-
ered the brushed surface up to 5 cycles, then the strips stacked
over each other and fastened at both ends via copper wires.
The copper wire only used for fastened of sheets for rolling pro-
cess and also after each cycle there is no any copper wire in
each sample. In fifth cycle, the produced composite was reached
2% volume of SiC according to density of SiC and aluminium. The
roll bonding process was carried out using laboratory roll mill
with a speed of 4 RPM and load capacity of 20 tons. At this
stage, 50% reduction of thickness was obtained. The roll bonded
strips were cut in half, and the same procedure was repeated for
5 cycles. In the next stage, only halving and rolling of sheets
were done again up to ten cycles. The schematic illustration of
the ARB process is shown in Fig. 1.

2.2. Samples preparation

In this research, samples with dimension of 1.5 cm  0.7 cm

were prepared from composites of cycle 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and pure
aluminium 1050 specimen without ARB process were cold
Fig. 2. FE-SEM micrographs of the Al–SiC composite of 6th cycle made by
mounted using epoxy resin. FESEM Hitachi S4160 model was used
accumulative roll bonding process. (a) 500 nm and (b) 300 nm.
to investigate the SiC particles distribution after fabrication of the
ARBed samples.

2.3. Micro-hardness measurements
Before each hardness test, the specimens were metallograph-
ically polished with abrasive papers of grit no. 1200, 2000 until
the oxide layer was removed and the opposite sides were per-
fectly parallel. Seven specimens were used. The Vickers micro-
hardness measurements were carried out according to ASTM:
E384-11e1 with loads of 100 grf and indention time of 15 s.
The corresponding final values were determined as the average
of five measurements. The micro-hardness of pure Al and Al–
SiC nano-composite fabricated by ARB process with different cy-
cles was measured and compared. All of micro-hardness tests
were done using MICROMETER (USA) micro-hardness measure-
ment set up.

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration the ARB process for Al–SiC nano-composite in two stages having following parts (a) cleaning the surface, (b) attaching sheets, (c) rolling, (d)
halving, and (e) adding SiC particles.
 E. Darmiani et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 497–502
Fig. 3. Variation of micro-hardness versus number of ARB cycles.
2.4. Wear test
A reciprocating wear test used in the present study was fabri-
cated as per ASTM: G133-05 standards [20,21]. The wear tests per-
formed on a pin-on-flat wear-testing machine with a constant
rotation speed of 38 rpm. The length of each round was 16 cm
and normal load (Fn) of 50 N at room temperature under non-
lubricated condition with the total distance of 100 m. The friction
loads (Ff) versus time were measured automatically. The samples
were cleaned prior to and after each test with acetone. The load cell
was connected to the computer and measured data automatically
transferred to the wear software. Wear software was used to
evaluate the experimental data. This software normalizes the
experimental data and finally the software exhibits the friction
coefficient versus sliding distance diagram as an outcome. The
pin was a bearing steel (AISI 52100) with a radius of 2.5 mm and
a height of 50 mm. The hardness of pin was 64 Rockwell C. The
weight loss of the samples to an accuracy of 0.1 mg was measured.
The wear loss, friction coefficient and worn surface of samples
were compared. Wear tracks were observed by SEM micrographs
of the worn surfaces at different samples by SEM model VEGA//
TESCAN.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Micro-structure evaluation
FE-SEM microscopy was used to study the SiC particle distri-
bution in the produced composite at the sixth ARBed sample. FE-
SEM micrographs of composite are shown in Fig. 2. It represents
no particle free zones and porosities. Also, the SiC particle distri-
bution appeared to be homogeneous and uniform. In addition,
Fig. 2 shows that ARB process has a great effect on SiC size. It
Fig. 4. Friction coefficient for pure aluminium and ARBed Al–SiC nano-composite at different cycles.
499
Fig. 5. Weight loss in sliding wear for pure aluminium and ARBed Al–SiC nano-
composite at different cycles.
is observed that the size of SiC is less than 100 nm and nano-
composite was formed. Also in Fig. 2 have been seen SiC parti-
cles with dimensions greater that 100 nm but by increasing
the ARB cycles, the size of other SiC particles can be reduced
and reached less than 100 nm.
3.2. Micro-hardness
Micro-hardness of the pure aluminium and Al–SiC composite,
made by accumulative roll bonding process at different cycles are
shown in Fig. 3. The micro-hardness of ARB processed Al–SiC nano-
composite is larger than pure aluminium. The micro-hardness in-
creases in the Al–SiC nano-composite fabricated by ARB process
with increasing the cycle’s number. The rapid increment of mi-
cro-hardness at low number of cycles is due to the density of dis-
locations and interaction between them and also it caused to be
strain hardening [22,23]. The micro-hardness value is saturated
by increasing the cycle. This saturation takes place because during
the fabrication of Al–SiC nano-composite high friction between roll
surface and sample caused work hardening due to shear strain.
And also the materials achieved to the steady-state density of
dislocation, owing to the creation of high-angle grain boundaries
[24–26].
3.3. Friction coefficient analysis
Friction coefficient of the pure aluminium and Al–SiC com-
posite, made by accumulative roll bonding process at different
cycles are shown in Fig. 4. It is observed that the friction coeffi-
cient for pure aluminium is larger than Al–SiC composite, made
by accumulative roll bonding process at different cycles. Also by
increasing the ARB cycles friction coefficient reduced. It has been
500 E. Darmiani et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 497–502
Fig. 6. SEM micrograph showing the morphologies of the worn surfaces of the pure aluminium 1050 and ARBed Al–SiC nano-composite. (a and b) Pure Al, (c and d) 1st cycle,
(e and f) 6th cycle, and (g and h) 10th cycle.
reported [15] that wear resistance of the severely deformed alu-
minium sheets was less than the non-processed sheets. During
the wear test grains recrystallization in the plastic deformation
region, due to high temperature at the contact between the
worn surface and pin, caused formation of coarse grain. In addi-
tion, because of the strain incompatibility at subsurface, delam-
ination of coarse grains occurred and thereby, debris particles
were produced. So pure aluminium has large friction coefficient.
In Al–SiC nano-composite, made by accumulative roll bonding
process, SiC particle acts as solid lubricant, and during the wear
test reducing the temperature at the contact between the worn
surface and pin. At the first cycle due to non-uniform distribu-
tion of SiC particle, the wear coefficient is larger than the other
cycles, but by increasing the ARB cycle SiC particle distribution
appeared to be uniform. So by increasing the ARB cycle the fric-
tion coefficient reduced.
3.4. Weight loss
Fig. 5 shows weight loss of pure aluminium and Al–SiC compos-
ite, made by accumulative roll bonding process at different cycles
after wear test. Weight loss of Al–SiC composite, made by accumu-
lative roll bonding process at different cycles is less than the pure
aluminium. Also by increasing the ARB cycle weight loss reduced.
During the wear test for pure aluminium, debris particles were
formed, so debris particles cause the mass loss increased, but for
other samples, by increasing ARB cycles, uniform distribution and
SiC particle refinement weight loss reduced.
3.5. SEM analysis of wear tracks
Morphologies of worn surfaces of the ARB-processed for 1st cy-
cle, 6th cycle, 10th cycle and pure aluminium sheets are shown in
Fig. 6. Fig. 6a shows that the worn surface of the pure aluminium
includes scratch marks and deformation. Fe particle exists in wear
track, due to high friction between pure aluminium and pin that is
shown in Fig. 6b. As indicate in Fig. 6c–e and h SiC particle exist in
wear track and also scratch marks and deformation decreased.
Also, the wear mechanism of Al–SiC composite, made by ARB pro-
cess was known as concurrent surface delamination and deforma-
tion [15]. The Fig. 7 shows EDS spectrum of pure aluminium in
wear track. Also Table 2 shows EDS results of pure aluminium
(1050) after the reciprocating test. The existence of Fe and Mn in
EDS analysis was attributed to the wear pin (bearing steel, AISI
52100) due to high friction between wear pin and pure aluminium
sample.
 E. Darmiani et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 497–502 501

Fig. 6. (continued)

4. Conclusion

In this study the wear behaviour of Al–SiC nano-composite was

characterized and the following results can be drawn:

(1) Micro-structure evaluation for sixth ARB cycles showed

that SiC particle was distributed uniformly and ARB pro-
cess has a great effect on SiC size. It is observed that the
size of SiC is less than 100 nm and nano-composite was
formed.
(2) The micro-hardness of ARB processed Al–SiC nano-
composite is larger than pure aluminium. The micro-hard-
ness of ARB processed Al–SiC nano-composite increased by
increasing cycle number. The rapid increment of micro-
hardness at the low cycle number is due to strain hardening,
Fig. 7. EDS spectrum of pure aluminium (1050) after the reciprocating test. also due to the steady-state density of dislocation the micro-
hardness value is saturated by increasing the cycles.
(3) By considering the recrystallization model, the high wear
rate of the pure aluminium was ascribed to debris particles.
Table 2 But In Al–SiC nano-composite, made by ARB process, SiC
EDS results of pure aluminium (1050) after the reciprocating test. particle acts as solid lubricant, and during the wear test
reducing the temperature at the contact between the worn
Surface samples Element Weight% Atomic%
surface and pin. So the weight loss and friction coefficient
Pure aluminium Al 79.06 88.65
decreased by increasing cycle number for Al–SiC nano-
Fe 0.91 0.50
Mn 20.02 10.85 composite, made by ARB process due to SiC refinement
and uniform distribution.
502 E. Darmiani et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 497–502

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