Study the Effect of Polymeric Quenching on Wear Resistance of Eutectic Modified Aluminium – Silicon Alloy

Abstract

Polymer quenchants are being used increasingly in the heat treating industry. One reason for this increase is the continual engineering advancements that facilitate their replacement for quench oils and water. The physical properties of a polymer quench bath directly affect the cooling rate of a quenched part. These properties include the type of quenchant, concentration, and agitation. These parameters must be controlled to optimize the quenching process in terms of alloy microstructure, properties, and performance. Such data is scarce for cast aluminum alloys in the literatures and a quantitative measurement of the effects from individual process parameter is not available. In this study a master alloy of modified eutectic (Al-12%Si) was prepared and used. The specimens were quenched and heat treated in distilled water, food oil, machine oil and (0.2-1.4) wt% concentrations of polyvinylalcohol (PVA). The specimens are characterized for x-ray diffraction, microstructure, hardness, and wear rate. The results had shown that the use of (0.6) wt% PVA revealed a maximum hardness with a slight decrease in the wear rate, and a maximum decrease in the wear rate was achieved when (1.2) wt % PVA was used compared to the reference cast alloy, also results had revealed that the use of polymer quenchants affect positively well in the decrease in the wear rate of the eutectic Al-Si alloy over the traditional quenching media.