PSI - Issue 72

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 72 (2025) 529–537

12th Annual Conference of Society for Structural Integrity and Life (DIVK12) Characterization and wear stability of functionally graded aluminum composites with Box- Behnken design Dharmik Chauhan a , Manoj Sahni a,* , Vishvesh Badheka b , Krunal Mehta b a Department of Mathematics, School of Technology, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Raysan-382426, Gujarat, India chauhandb1998@gmail.com, manojsahani117@gmail.com b Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Technology, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Raysan 382426, Gujarat, India vishvesh.badheka@spt.pdpu.ac.in, krunal.mehta@sot.pdpu.ac.in Abstract This study presents the fabrication and tribological evaluation of functionally graded aluminum composites reinforced with boron carbide (B 4 C) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) casted using ultrasonically squeeze casting. Aluminum composites were tested using the pin-on-disc tribometer with pin heating mode. For the tribometer test 6 mm diameter with 6 mm length specimens are used. In wear test were designed using the Box-Behnken method varying normal load (10 N, 25 N, 40 N), Sliding Speed (0.5 m/s, 1.5 m/s, 2.0 m/s) and temperature (50 ℃, 125 ℃, 200 ℃). SWR analysis showed statically significant effect of these parameter on wear loss it’s indicating inherent wear stability of the aluminum composite. Vicker Hardness, Optical Microstructure and X ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses confirm reinforcement efficacy and uniform dispersion. The results demonstrate the material’s suitability for applications requiring stable tribological performance under varying conditions. © 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Aleksandar Sedmak, Branislav Djordjevic, Simon Sedmak Dr. Simon Sedmak, ssedmak@mas.bg.ac.rs, Innovation Center of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia

Keywords: Aluminum 6061; Analysis of Variance; Boron carbide (B 4 C); Box-Behnken; Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ); Tribology; Wear loss

1. Introduction Aluminum 6061 is popular matrix material in engineering due to its balanced strength, corrosion resistance and machinability. To enhance its wear performances in high friction application, reinforcement with ceramic and self-

* Corresponding author. Prof. Manoj Sahni, Tel.: +91- 787-444-1820. E-mail address: manojsahani117@gmail.com

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Aleksandar Sedmak, Branislav Djordjevic, Simon Sedmak Dr. Simon Sedmak, ssedmak@mas.bg.ac.rs, Innovation Center of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia 10.1016/j.prostr.2025.08.135