Fabrication and dry sliding wear study of Al6061/mussel-shell particulate composites

Considering the combination of the good physical-mechanical property of mussel shell (MS) and its bulk availability at low processing cost, in present work an attempt has been made to use it as reinforcing particulate material for fabricating Al6061/ MS composite through stir casting route. The composite is fabricated with 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weight percent (wt%) of mussel shell reinforcement. Microstructural characterization revealed the fair distribution of particles in the matrix. Fabricated matrix with 6 wt% mussel shell has shown the maximum hardness and wear resistance beyond that adverse effect has been quantified. Linear regression analysis helped in establishing the relationship between independent variables of load, sliding distance and reinforcement volume in wt% to calculate wear loss and wear rate. Analysis of variance helped to confirmed that incorporation of MS particulates significantly contributing to the improvement of the wear properties.