Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110

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Composites: Part B
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesb

Interface analysis and wear behavior of Ni particulate reinforced

aluminumsilicon composites produced by PM
G. Miranda a,, M. Buciumeanu b, O. Carvalho a, D. Soares a, F.S. Silva a
a
CT2M Centre for Mechanical and Materials Technologies, University of Minho, Azurm, 4800-058 Guimares, Portugal
b
CrossBorder Faculty of Humanities, Economics and Engineering, University of Galati, Dunarea de Jos, Domneasca 47, 800008 Galati, Romania

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

Article history: This study is concerned with the inuence of Nickel, as reinforcement, in an aluminumsilicon (AlSi)
Received 16 April 2014 alloy when regarding wear behavior. For these composites, the effect of Ni content, in the tribopair per-
Received in revised form 7 July 2014 formance, was evaluated. For this purpose, the pin but also the counterface wear behavior was analyzed.
Accepted 19 September 2014
Nickel particulate reinforced aluminumsilicon (AlSi) composites, with 5, 12.5 and 20 wt.% Ni were
Available online 5 October 2014
produced by a hot-pressing route. Microstructural characterization showed a uniform distribution of
the Ni particulates in the AlSi matrix. EDS and XRD analyses revealed that the particle/matrix interface
Keywords:
was formed by Al3Ni intermetallic. Reciprocating pin-on-plate wear tests were performed with AlSi
A. Metalmatrix composites (MMCs)
B. Interface
and AlSiNi pins against a gray cast iron (GCI) counterface. It was observed that the wear behavior of
B. Wear the AlSiNi/GCI tribopair is improved when compared with the AlSi/GCI system.
E. Sintering 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Nickel particle

1. Introduction achieving better mechanical and tribological properties, since load

Several aluminum-metal matrix composites (AMCs) have been
developed for tribological applications (e.g. automotive compo-
nents such as engine pistons, where wear properties are crucial)
[13]. Most of the existing research is focused on AMCs reinforced
with ceramics, mostly SiC and Al2O3 [2,4].
It has been reported that the wear behavior of metal matrix
composites is inuenced by several factors [49]. Wang and co-
workers [5] studied the wear behavior of an aluminum alloy
(Al6092) reinforced by 15 vol.% Ni3Al. They reported that the com-
posite presented a superior wear resistance compared to the
Al6092 monolith. The improvement in wear behavior was based
on the fracture toughness of the reinforcement [5]. It is known that
ceramic reinforcements can be detached or fragmented during the
sliding which may result in a worst wear behavior due to the third-
body effect [4,5,7]. The third-body effect was attributed to the poor
bonding between the metal matrix and the ceramic, once no inter-
face is formed. The process of crack nucleation between reinforce-
ment and matrix during sliding leads to fragmentation and
delamination of the surface [4,5,7]. Kumar and co-authors [8] in
a study about the effect of particle size on operative wear mecha-
nism in particle reinforced aluminum alloy composites at elevated
temperatures mentioned that an effective interface allows
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gmiranda@dem.uminho.pt (G. Miranda).
transfer can occur through the interface. Also, Das and co-authors
[9] reported an increase of hardness if there is a smother interface
between the matrix and reinforcement.
Intermetallics are promising materials to act as reinforcements
in aluminum alloys, especially those from the NiAl system [2] due
to their high hardness and strength [10,11]. There are some studies
focusing on aluminum alloys reinforced with Ni3Al and NiAl
[2,5,12] and also with Al3Ni [12,13]. In some of these studies the
intermetallics are added to the matrix as raw materials [2,5], while
in other studies only Nickel is added to the matrix and there is an
in-situ formation of the intermetallics during processing [12,13].
This last approach is preferred once the in-situ formation of rein-
forcing particles seems to enhance the wear performance of com-
posite materials [14]. By using this method intermetallics arise in
the reaction zone between particle and matrix (interface) which
leads to a continuous bond between reinforcement and matrix,
inexistent in ceramic reinforced metal matrix composites. The
existence of this interface is benecial to the tribological behavior
of these composites [2,5]. Nevertheless, the characterization of the
formed interface (regarding chemical composition, hardness and
wear behavior) is mandatory to conclude about the role of these
in-situ formed compounds in the composite.
This work is concerned with the dry sliding behavior of three
Ni-reinforced AlSi composites (AlSi-5wt.%Ni; AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni and
AlSi-20wt.% Ni) against a GCI counterface. For comparison pur-
poses unreinforced Al-Si specimens were tested under the same

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2014.09.017
1359-8368/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
102 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110

Table 1
Chemical composition of AlSi alloy (according to manufacturer).

Element Al Si Fe Cu
wt.% 88.352 11.5 0.145 0.003

conditions. The controlling wear mechanisms were investigated,

and besides the pin also the counterface wear behavior was also
studied.

2. Experimental details

2.1. Fabrication of AlSiNi composites

Nickel particle-reinforced aluminumsilicon composites were

produced from AluminumSilicon (AlSi) spherical powder, with
maximum particle diameter of 45 lm and Nickel powder
(99.8 wt.% Ni), with maximum particle diameter of 45 lm.
The chemical composition of the AlSi alloy is listed in Table 1.
Both materials were purchased from TLS Technik. Scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) images of AlSi and Ni powders are pre-
sented in Figs. 1(a and b). Fig. 2 shows AlSi and Ni powders size dis-
tribution (according to manufacturer), showing that 90% of the AlSi
powders have a diameter below 46.31 lm, while for Ni powders
this value is 36.46 lm.
AlSi powder and Ni particles were mechanically mixed in a
blender for 20 min. The obtained mixture was divided and placed
inside graphite moulds, with 8 mm width and 43 mm length.
AlSiNi samples were then sintered by means of pressure-assisted
Fig. 3. Schematic representation of the hot-pressing sintering system.
sintering process, in vacuum (10 2 mBar), using a high frequency
induction furnace (Fig. 3), according to the following procedure.
The mould was placed inside the chamber, where the sample
was compressed at 1 MPa, and then heated up to 500 C, with a
heating rate of 25 C/min. When the temperature reached 500 C
the pressure on the sample was raised to 35 MPa (while the heat-
ing proceeds at 25 C/min till 550 C). The sample was maintained
at 550 C with 35 MPa pressure, for 15 min. Afterwards the sam-
ples were allowed to cool inside the mould, in vacuum, till room

Fig. 1. SEM images of (a) AlSi and (b) Ni powders.

Fig. 2. (a) AlSi and (b) Ni powders size distribution (according to the manufacturer).
 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110 103

2.4. Wear tests

A reciprocating pin-on-plate tribometer PLINT-TE67/R was used

to evaluate the wear characteristics of AlSiNi composite/GCI slid-
ing pairs.
Pins were machined from the produced AlSiNi composites
with the geometry presented in Fig. 4. The dimensions of the pins
are: radius of curvature 40 mm, thickness 3.5 mm and the arc
length 20 mm.
Fig. 4. Schematic test conguration: Fn Normal applied load; d alternated
displacement amplitude. The counterpart consisted in at plates (40  18  5 mm) of GCI
with a hardness of 338 HV. The chemical composition and the
microstructure of the GCI plates are shown in Table 2 and Fig. 5
respectively.
Table 2 Fig. 4 shows a schematic representation of the test performed in
Chemical composition of GCI plates. this work: applied normal load (Fn) on the pin and alternative dis-
Element Fe C Mn Si P
placement (d) of the at specimen. Experiments were carried out
with a normal load of 10 N and relative displacement amplitude
wt.% 90.4 3.59 0.392 2.37 0.624
of 10 mm, for a sliding distance of 148 m. During the tests com-
Cr Ni Cu S Mo Others pressed air was own to the contact zone in order to remove loose
0.249 1.52 0.28 0.023 0.007 0.545 wear debris. The frequency of the reciprocating motion was 1 Hz
for all tests. All wear tests were carried out under the same condi-
tions. The only variable was the Ni content of the pins: 0% (alumin-
iumsilicon specimens); 5; 12.5 and 20 wt.%. All tests were
performed in laboratory environment. The results were taken as
the average from at least three tests.
The data acquisition system associated to the tribometer
recorded different testing variables including coefcient of friction
and sliding distance. Both pin and at specimens were cleaned
ultrasonically in alcohol before and after the tests and the amount
of wear was measured by weight and volume loss. The dominant
wear mechanisms were characterized by using scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) with X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy
(EDS) analysis.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. SEM/EDS analysis

SEM images of the produced composites (Fig. 6) show a good

Fig. 5. SEM image of the GCI plate microstructure.
temperature. The obtained samples had average dimensions of:
3.4  8  43 mm.
Three Nickel particle-reinforced aluminumsilicon composites
were produced: AlSi-5%Ni; AlSi-12.5%Ni and AlSi-20%Ni (wt.%).
Unreinforced AlSi samples were also produced for comparison
purposes.
2.2. Chemical characterization
The obtained specimens were characterized in terms of chemi-
cal composition of matrix, particle and interface, by means of Scan-
ning Electron Microscopy (SEM)/Energy Dispersive Spectrometer
(EDS). The spatial distribution of the particles in the matrix and
the fracture surface (after tensile tests) were obtained by means
of SEM.
2.3. Hardness measurements
Hardness measurements were conducted in the produced com-
posites and unreinforced matrix material. An EMCO-TEST, Dura-
Scan model, hardness tester was used, with a dwell time of 15 s
under a load of 200 gf, to obtain Vickers Hardness.
dispersion of Ni particulates in the composites and no porosity in
both the composite and the unreinforced specimens, assessing
the effectiveness of the hot-pressing process for the production
of these composites. Additionally, for all composites no evidence
of particle detachment was found in the observed polished speci-
mens, what can indicate an effective particle/matrix bonding. For
all composites a reaction zone (interface) between Ni particles
and the AlSi matrix was found (Fig. 6).
Figs. 7(ac) show more clearly the AlSi/Ni reaction zone, sur-
rounding the Ni particles. Table 3 shows the results obtained by
EDS analysis, performed in the matrix, particle and interface zones.
The white zones (marked as Z3 in Fig. 7) revealed essentially the
presence of Ni (Table 3) this corresponds to a particle zone where
minor or no reaction occurred. The reaction zone (gray zone
marked as Z2 in Fig. 7) revealed a composition that could indicate
the formation of Al3Ni as product of the AlSiNi reaction occurred
during the hot-pressing cycle.
Fig. 8 shows the XRD analysis performed in the AlSi-20wt.% Ni
composite (the composite where a higher amount of intermetallic
is found). This analysis revealed that the only in-situ reaction prod-
uct between AlSi and Ni was Al3Ni (that forms in a range of tem-
peratures between 250 and 330 C [13]). Additionally, Ni peaks
were detected, once unreacted Ni is present in the core of some
particles (Fig. 7).
Fig. 2 shows the Ni powder size dispersion, revealing that 90% of
the particles have a diameter below 36.46 lm, 50% under
104 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110

Fig. 6. SEM images of (a) AlSi; (b) AlSi-5wt.%Ni; (c) AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni and (d) AlSi-20wt.% Ni composites.

Fig. 7. SEM images of (a) AlSi-5wt.%Ni; (b) AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni and (c) AlSi-20wt.% Ni composites with marked zones (matrix, interface and particle core) for EDS analysis.

20.63 lm, while 10% of the particles have a diameter lower than
Table 3 7.11 lm. This dispersion explains the fact that in all the produced
Chemical composition (in wt.%) of matrix, interface and particle core (marked as Z1, composites, two types of particles are found: particles with a
Z2 and Z3 in Fig. 7) for AlSiNi composites, obtained in polished surfaces, by EDS.
Nickel core surrounded by an Al3Ni interface and particles where
Matrix (Z1) Interface (Z2) Particle core (Z3) all Ni reacted with aluminum, forming particles with Al3Ni exclu-
AlSi-5wt.%Ni sively. The latter ones are formed from the smaller Ni powders,
Al 77.54 58.92 2.01 while the former are originated by particles with higher diameter.
Ni 38.60 94.54
Si 17.73 0.82 0.52
O 4.72 1.66 2.93
3.2. Hardness
AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni
Al 70.83 55.55 4.02
Ni 42.59 93.82
The results of hardness measurements for AlSi alloy and AlSiNi
Si 25.14 0.76 0.56 composites are given in Table 4. It can be seen that the hardness
O 4.03 1.10 1.60 increased with the addition of the reinforcement as compared to
AlSi-20wt.%Ni the AlSi alloy. The addition of 5 wt.% Ni led to an increase of
Al 66.83 59.21 1.56 16.6% in hardness, while with 20 wt.% Ni added the increase is
Ni 38.33 96.34 47.3%.
Si 29.34 1.04
Nickel hardness is around 115 HV [15], while the hardness of
O 3.83 1.43 2.10
Al3Ni is reported as 841 HV [10]. Therefore, this substantial
 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110
Fig. 8. XRD pattern for the AlSi-20wt.% Ni composite.
Table 4
Hardness of the produced AlSi alloy and AlSiNi
composites.
Material Hardness (HV)
AlSi 53.25 1.11
AlSi-5wt.%Ni 62.08 3.95
AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni 68.57 3.14
AlSi-20wt.%Ni 78.46 3.86
increase in the composite hardness is attributed not only to the
presence of Ni but mainly due to the Al3Ni intermetallic. This can
be better observed in AlSi-20wt.%Ni specimens, where a bigger
amount of this intermetallic is present. Similar case has been
reported by Costa et. al. [2] regarding the formation of nickel alu-
minides, that improved the level of hardness in the matrix by the
addition of the Ni as reinforcement.
In order to measure the amount of intermetallic in these com-
posites, ve SEM images for each composite were analyzed and
the area occupied by the interface quantied (fraction (in%) occu-
pied by the interface in each picture). Fig. 9 presents the average
values of the interface area fraction for the produced AlSiNi
composites.
The area occupied by Al3Ni intermetallic was 10.5% for AlSi-
5wt.% Ni composite while in the case of AlSi-20wt.% Ni this value
Fig. 9. Interface area fraction for the produced AlSiNi composites.
105
reached 35.3%. These results indicate a good correlation between
hardness and intermetallic content in the matrix.
3.3. Wear mechanisms
3.3.1. Weight loss
The weight loss of unreinforced AlSi, AlSiNi composites (5,
12.5 and 20 wt.% Ni) and the corresponding mating GCI plates
are shown in Fig. 10. Lower weight loss was found for all AlSiNi
pins when comparing to unreinforced AlSi pin. It can be seen in
Fig. 10 that there is a decreasing tendency in the pin weight loss
when increasing Ni content, coherent with the increase in hardness
(Table 4). Regarding the counterface, the weight loss seems to
slightly decrease with the increase of Ni in the composite.
Fig. 10 shows an improvement in the wear resistance for all
AlSiNi/GCI tribopairs tested in this study, when comparing to
AlSi/GCI tribopair. It should be mentioned that the improvement
was not only for the AlSiNi composites (pins) but also for the
GCI plate.
3.3.2. Coefcient of friction
Fig. 11 shows the evolution of the coefcient of friction (COF)
with sliding distance for AlSi and AlSiNi composites, against GCI.
For all the performed reciprocating sliding wear tests, the typi-
cal evolution of the COF with sliding distance was veried: a rst
period corresponding to the running-in regime after which the
COF enters in a steady-state conditions remaining approximately
constant during the whole test. The average values for the COF of
AlSi and AlSiNi composites are presented in Fig. 12.
It can be seen from Fig. 12 that there is no signicant difference
in the COF values between AlSi and AlSiNi composites. This
behavior is in line with the results reported by Costa et al. [2]. This
steady behavior of the COF can be explained based on the lubricant
effect of iron [16].
3.3.3. Analysis of wear track
3.3.3.1. GCI plates. SEM images and corresponding backscattered
(BSE) images of the worn surfaces of the GCI plates after sliding
against unreinforced AlSi and AlSiNi pins with different Ni con-
tents are shown in Fig 13.
It can be seen that no substantial differences in the wear track
topography is noticed between the plates used for sliding against
AlSi (Fig. 13(a) and the ones used sliding against AlSiNi pins
(Fig. 13(c, e and g)). All the surfaces presented similar abrasion
Fig. 10. Weight loss after wear tests of the produced AlSi alloy and AlSiNi
composites.
106 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110
Fig. 11. Evolution of the COF with sliding distance for AlSi alloy and AlSiNi composites.
Fig. 12. COF of AlSi alloy and AlSiNi composites.
grooves and delamination marks. This observation is consistent
with the weight loss similarity between the plates used for sliding
against AlSi and the ones used for AlSiNi composites. Besides
abrasion and delamination, also adhesion occurred in the GCI
plates during sliding.
Fig. 13(b, d, f and h) show that material transfer occurred from
the pin to the GCI plate (dark zones in backscatter images corre-
spond to material transfer, while the lighter areas correspond to
GCI). In order to identify the composition of the transferred mate-
rial, EDS analysis was performed in the dark zones present in
Fig. 13. The results are presented in Table 5.
The composition of these transferred layers showed a mixture
of materials derived from both sliding pairs: aluminum; silicon
(coming from the matrix alloy); iron and carbon (coming from
the GCI) were found. Nickel was detected in the plates used against
the AlSiNi composites, showing an increasing amount as the Ni
content increases in the composite, as expected.
For all GCI plates used for sliding against AlSi alloy and AlSiNi
composites, EDS analysis of the transferred material revealed the
presence of oxygen, with similar percentages. This high oxygen
content may indicate the presence of some aluminum oxides. No
substantial amount of oxygen (0.81 wt.%) was found in the white
zones of the plates (corresponding to GCI), showing that the plates
were not oxidized previously to the wear test.
3.3.3.2. AlSi-based pins. It can be noticed from Fig. 14 that there is a
clear evolution in the worn surface topography from AlSi to AlSiNi
pins. AlSi pins surface (Fig. 14a)) presents delamination mostly
along the sliding direction, with deeper craters than the AlSiNi
pins. Besides delamination, also plastic deformation is present in
AlSi pins. With increasing Ni content (520%) (Fig. 14(b, c and
d)), AlSiNi composite pins tend to show a smoother wear surface.
Also, the composites tend to show less plastic deformation, but
instead more delamination, with less deep craters, what can indi-
cates a lower material loss in the composites, when comparing
with unreinforced AlSi (Fig. 14a)). Results shown in Fig. 10 and
Table 6 (specic wear rate) validate this tendency.
In order to understand the role of Ni particles in the wear mech-
anism, a detailed topographic (Figs. 14 and 16) and chemical
(Figs. 15 and 17; Tables 7 and 8) analysis was performed in the AlSi
and AlSiNi pins.
AlSi pins seem to be controlled essentially by two mechanisms:
abrasive wear, with delamination and also adhesive wear, with
plastic deformation and some material transfer from the GCI coun-
terface surface, as evidenced by EDS analysis (Fig. 15 and Table 7).
 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110 107

Fig. 13. GCI counterface plate wear tracks used for sliding against (a and b) AlSi alloy and (c and d) 5wt.%Ni; (e and f) 12.5 wt.%Ni and (g and h) 20wt.%Ni reinforced AlSi
composites.

In Fig. 15, the marked zone Z2, corresponding to the matrix, shows
the presence of iron, coming from the GCI plate. In this zone the
oxygen content is 25 wt.% revealing this way an oxidation phe-
nomenon in the AlSi alloy. Z1 zone shows evidences of material
transfer from the GCI plate to the pin, once the iron content is
around 79 wt.%, revealing also some oxygen and carbon.
In Fig. 16, SEM and BSE corresponding images are presented in
order to conclude about the topography in the former and chemical
composition in the later.
It is known that the particulate-matrix interface plays a vital
role in the delamination wear mechanisms [4]. In this work, AlSi
pins delaminated areas present higher deepness than the AlSiNi
108 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110

Table 5 Table 6
Chemical composition (in wt.%) of the material transfer zones (marked as Z1 in Specic wear rate (mm3 N 1 m 1) of the pins for the
Fig. 12) in GCI plates used for sliding against AlSi alloy and AlSiNi composites. produced AlSi alloy and AlSiNi composites.

AlSi AlSi-5wt.%Ni AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni AlSi-20wt.%Ni AlSi 0.000526

AlSi-5wt.%Ni 0.000410
Al 34.95 45.75 29.83 33.73
AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni 0.000476
Fe 40.08 20.41 36.64 27.99
AlSi-20wt.%Ni 0.000322
O 20.94 24.63 23.07 22.18
Ni 1.74 4.49 11.67
Si 4.04 5.58 3.87 4.44
C 1.89 2.10

pins, revealing this way some differences in their wear mecha-

nisms. Ni particulates appear to have a preventive effect against
material detachment thus improving the wear behavior of the
composites.
When analyzing AlSiNi pins (Fig. 16(b, d and f)) the reinforce-
ment (consisting of Al3Ni and Ni) was found in the sliding surfaces,
indicating this way a good bonding between reinforcement and
matrix. When comparing this aspect with the sliding area topogra-
phy (Fig. 16(a, c and e)) it is clear that the presence of Ni/Al3Ni
reinforcement led to a less pronounced delamination.
Fig. 16 shows that the reduction of the surface roughness in the
composites is effectively a consequence of the Ni particles pres-
ence. Ni particles, with the surrounding Al3Ni zone, show a distinc-
tive wear pattern. The Nickel core, with high ductility presents a
pronounced plastic deformation (Fig. 16(b and f)), while the Al3Ni Fig. 15. SEM images of AlSi pin wear tracks with marked zones for EDS analysis.
zone, with high hardness, presents a typical brittle behavior, with
cracks (Fig. 16(a, c, and f)) and formation of ne particles
(Fig. 16(a)), which are retained by the matrix. This Al3Ni created The localized heating produced during a wear test stimulates
in-situ seems to have a good bond to the matrix, being this way chemical reactions, including oxidation. Comparing the oxygen
retained in the composite, contributing to an improvement in wear content in the matrix, before (Table 3) and after wear tests
behavior, unlike most ceramic particles, not created in-situ, that (Fig. 17 and Table 8), a great increase is noticed for all composites,
are usually released during sliding, being detrimental to both pin indicating an oxidation phenomenon in the aluminium alloy.
and counterface. Although this is not the main wear mechanism in this system, it

Fig. 14. SEM images of (a) AlSi; (b) AlSi-5wt.%Ni; (c) AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni and (d) AlSi-20wt.% Ni composites pins wear tracks.
 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110 109

Fig. 16. SEM images of (a and b) AlSi-5wt.%Ni; (c and d) AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni and (e and f) AlSi-20wt.% Ni composites pins wear tracks.

Fig. 17. SEM images of (a) AlSi-5wt.%Ni; (b) AlSi-12.5wt.%Ni and (c) AlSi-20wt.% Ni composites wear tracks, with marked zones (matrix, interface and core) for EDS analysis.

may inuence the wear process. In the AlSiNi/GCI system here
presented, Ni particulates are the main responsible for the differ-
ences in the wear behavior of the composites, when comparing
with the unreinforced AlSi/GCI.
Regarding the chemical composition of AlSiNi pins after wear
tests (Table 8), a higher iron content was found in the matrix,
consequence of some counterface material transfer to the matrix
zone of the pins (as in the AlSi/GCI system). The interface zone
composition showed some variability, possibly due to Al3Ni ne
particle formation and subsequent mixture of those with AlSi
delamination fragments, as well as some eventually transferred
GCI.
110 G. Miranda et al. / Composites: Part B 69 (2015) 101110

Table 7  All the produced AlSiNi composites exhibited a lower weight

Chemical composition (in wt.%) of marked zones of Fig. 16. loss than the unreinforced AlSi alloy.
Z1 Z2  The counterpart wear behavior improvement with the addition
Al 9.52 55.91 of Ni in the composites is due to the non-detachment of the
Fe 78.79 10.53 brittle compound (Al3Ni created in-situ) from the aluminum
O 6.72 25.00 matrix.
Si 3.60 8.56  It is shown that by reinforcing AlSi alloy with Ni particulates,
C 1.36
the wear behavior of the tribopair (AlSiNi/GCI) is improved,
when compared with the AlSi/GCI system.
Table 8
Chemical composition (in wt.%) of the matrix, core and interface formed in the Ni
particles (marked zones in Fig. 17) for AlSiNi composites wear tracks, by EDS. Acknowledgements
Matrix Core Interface
This work was supported by an FCT (Fundao para a Cincia e a
AlSi-5wt.%Ni Z2 Z1 Z3
Tecnologia) Grant (SFRH/BD/65754/2009) and by the project EXCL/
Al 48.99 9.14 55.04
Ni 8.03 84.29 40.06 EMS-TEC/0460/2012.
Si 5.85 1.14 0.73
O 26.83 4.28 1.73 References
Fe 10.29 1.14 2.45
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