Wear behaviour of eutectic and hypoeutectic Al‐Si‐Mg‐Ce alloys

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the wear behaviour of eutectic and hypoeutectic Al‐Si‐Mg‐Ce alloys.Design/methodology/approachThe eutectic and hypoeutectic alloys were prepared using permanent mould casting process by varied cerium (Ce) addition in the alloy from 1 to 3 wt%. Dry sliding wear tests were performed against a hardened carbon steel (Fe‐2.3%Cr‐0.9%C) using a pin‐on‐disc configuration with fixed sliding speed of 1 m/s and load 50 N at room temperature of ∼25 degree. Morphologies of both worn surfaces and collected debris were characterised by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometer (EDS).FindingsIt was revealed that following the addition of cerium, intermetallic Al4Ce needle‐like structure was present in eutectic alloys whereas CeMg2Si2 blocky phase was present in the hypoeutectic alloys. The increasing of Ce addition up to 3.0 wt% in hypoeutectic alloy led to formation of AlCe3 intermetallic phase. The increase in cerium content up to 2 wt% led to higher wear resistance behaviour for both as‐cast alloys. Formation of craters and localised plastic deformation were observed on the worn surface of both as‐cast alloys, resulting fine particulate and sheet‐like wear debris. The wear resistance was found to be higher for hypoeutectic alloy compared to the eutectic alloy containing Ce.Originality/valueAn attempt has been made to study the influence of intermetallic compound containing Ce in the Al‐Si‐Mg alloys on wear behaviour of both as‐cast alloys.