Abrasive wear behaviour of an Al2O3-Al co-continuous composite

The response of an alumina-aluminium co-continuous composite ('C-4') to two types of abrasive wear test has been studied. In this material, the ceramic phase (similar to 70 vol.%) and the metal phase (similar to 30% vol.%) form continuous interpenetrating networks. The behaviour of the composite has been compared with that of commercial purity aluminium, sintered glass-bonded alumina, and two conventional particulate reinforced aluminium-alumina MMCs in a micro-scale abrasion test with silicon carbide abrasive particles, and in a rubber wheel abrasion test with silica particles. For abrasion by silica particles, the co-continuous composite material exhibited significantly greater wear resistance than conventional aluminium MMCs with discontinuous alumina reinforcement. For abrasion by silicon carbide particles, C-4 and conventional MMCs showed similar performance. These observations can be explained in terms of the response of the composite phases to deformation by the abrasive particles. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.