Comparative tribological studies of additive manufactured as-built and chemically polished AlSi10Mg alloy surfaces

Aluminium alloy, AlSi10Mg is being used widely because of its light weight and good mechanical properties. The material has good strength, hardness, high corrosion resistance, and good thermal and electrical conductivity. The AlSi10Mg samples were fabricated using the powder bed fusion (PBF) method. The PBF is a widely used additive manufacturing (AM) method that uses powder bed fusion technology to build up near-net shape parts. As-built sample surfaces were characterised in terms of 3D surface roughness parameters. Since fatigue and wear can occur readily during the life cycle of any component, it is important to study the tribological aspects of AlSi10Mg produced by the PBF method. Dry sliding tests were performed using as-built AlSi10Mg samples as stationary blocks against a 6 mm diameter Alumina ball as the counter face. Tests were performed using different loads and velocities ranging from 10–45 N and 1–4 mm/s respectively. Although complex geometries can be fabricated using the PBF method, the surface quality is insufficient for different applications. After chemical polishing of the samples, tribology experiments were repeated, highlighting the substantial impact of surface finishing on both surface properties and tribological behaviour. Furthermore, the tribological behaviour of AMed metal parts is notably influenced by load and velocity parameters. Wear tests underscore that loads and velocities significantly influence the wear behaviour of the component, with contact pressure potentially leading to microstructural modifications due to thermal softening induced by the sliding process.