A novel Al-based self-lubricating hybrid composite composed of 2D-WS₂, SiC, and Al₂O₃ for tribological applications

Abstract Self-lubricating composites are new-generation composites for automotive and aerospace applications due to their attractive structural and lubricating properties. Aluminum-based composites with 2D-WS 2 reinforcement could improve the tribological properties to reduce the wear rate of the components. This study reports the fabrication and augmentation of structural and mechanical behavior of a novel Al-based self-lubricating hybrid composite. The density and hardness of the composite increase up to 2.94 g cm −3 and 112 ± 6.3 HV respectively with hybrid reinforcements of SiC, Al 2 O 3 , and 2D-WS 2 . The microstructure shows SiC, Al 2 O 3 are distributed uniformly and WS 2 phase is localized at the grain boundary. For Al 2 O 3 and 2D-WS 2 combination, the friction coefficient is 0.16 and for the Al–Al 2 O 3 –SiC–WS 2 , it is 0.14. Correspondingly the corrosion rate is 0.00213 mm a −1 for Al–Al 2 O 3 –SiC–WS 2 as compared to Al–Al 2 O 3 –WS 2 (0.01565 mm a −1 ) and Al–SiC–WS 2 (0.01477 mm a −1 ) composites. Based on the experimental findings Al-based composites with hybrid reinforcements lead to reduced wear and corrosion rate suitable for tribological applications.