Dry sliding wear analysis of vacuum die‐casted hybrid aluminum nanocomposites using the DOE Taguchi method

Abstract This study focuses on the impact of wear process parameters on the sliding wear behavior of titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ) and yttrium oxide (Y ₂ O ₃ ) reinforced pure aluminum (Al) hybrid nanocomposites. The optimization of wear test parameters for hybrid aluminum matrix nanocomposites (HAMNCs) was examined with the design of experiments Taguchi method. The HAMNCs were manufactured by a vacuum die casting technique using a unique double‐layer feeding method. Initially, mechanical characterization as tensile and hardness of HAMNC samples was performed to identify the optimum reinforcement. The nanocomposites at 5‐wt.% TiO ₂ + 5‐wt.% Y ₂ O ₃ (HAMNC1) showed excellent tensile strength and microhardness of 127.6 MPa and 75.43 BHN, respectively, than the other configurations of HAMNCs. The three levels of machine process parameters as load at 5, 10, 15 N, sliding velocity at .5, 1, 1.5 m/s and sliding distance at 200, 400, and 600 m are selected to identify optimum process parameters of HAMNC1 that possess ultimate wear properties. The results derived from optimization were further predicted using ANOVA and regression equations for individual influences. The improved grain size observed in the wear surface morphology of HAMNC1 was performed using field emission scanning electron microscopy.