Modeling and optimization of sliding specific wear and coefficient of friction of aluminum based red mud metal matrix composite using Taguchi method and response surface methodology

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) are attracting considerable interest worldwide because of their superior mechanical and tribological properties. This investigation presents the use of Taguchi method for minimizing the specific wear and coefficient of friction in red mud based aluminum MMC. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is also employed to develop mathematical model for specific wear rate and coefficient of friction. A plan of experiments, based on L₂₇ Taguchi design method, the orthogonal array, signal- to- noise ratio, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are employed to investigate the influence of parameters like applied load, sliding velocity, % of reinforcement and hardness of the counterpart material. Pin on Disc apparatus is used to conduct the experiment to analyze the effect of input parameters on output performance characteristics. From the analysis of signal to noise ratio (S/N) and ANOVA, the optimal combination levels and the effect of input parameter on output response are obtained. RSM is employed to develop mathematical model, capability of the model is good in prediction of results and results are very closer to the measured value. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique is applied to check the validity of the developed model. The result stress that the developed model could be effectively employed to predict the specific wear rate and the coefficient of friction.