Enhancement in Tribological Properties of Squeeze Casted A356 Alloy with Post Processing Techniques through Heat Treatment and Heat Treated cum Shot Peening Approach

Primary objective of this research work is to study the effect of heat treatment and heat treated cum shot peening processes on the tribological properties of squeeze casted A356 Alloy. The proposed alloy has wide range of applications in automobile industries due to its appreciable mechanical and tribological properties. Squeeze casting is an efficient economic and promising processing route for fabricating aluminum alloy with improved properties and pore free structure. Further the properties can be improvised through post processing technique like heat treatment and heat treated cum shot peening approach and also residual stresses are removed as a result of heat treatment process. So, this research work aims to investigate the effect of post processing approach on the tribological properties of squeeze casted A356 alloy. A wear and friction characteristics of the prepared samples were tested using pin-on-disc tribometer apparatus under dry sliding condition of load 10, 20, 30 and 40N with a constant sliding velocity of 3 m/s. Experimental investigation reveals that there is a significant improvement in hardness and these improvements are attributed towards the heat treatment and heat treated cum shot peening process. As a result, wear and frictional characteristics of the heat treated and heat treated cum shot peened A356 alloy is higher than the non-post processed squeeze casted samples and it makes the proposed material suitable for automotive applications. On the whole less wear rate and nominal coefficient of friction were perceived for heat treated and heat treated cum shot peened samples. Also, tribological study reveals that there is an increase in the wear rate and coefficient of friction decreases with an increased load.