Characterizing the Influence of MoS₂ Hybridization on the Tribological Behaviors of AZ91D-SiC Composites

Abstract The aerospace and automotive industries are struggling to find corrosion and wear resistant lightweight materials. The AZ91D alloys’ highest strength-to-weight ratio makes them preferable than their monolithic counterparts. Hybrid composites based on AZ91D offer a viable solution to these problems. Therefore, this study set out to investigate how reinforcing AZ91D-SiC hybrid composites with molybdenum di-sulphide (MoS 2 ) affected their tribological performance. wear resistance (WR) of synthetic composite specimen with varying percentages (wt. %) employing a pin-on-disc (POD) device was measured. Five parameters at three levels of tribological performance were evaluated using an L27 orthogonal array. The hybrid AZ91D-SiC-MoS 2 composites exhibited significantly improved wear resistance in comparison to the AZ91D-SiC and AZ91D-MoS 2 composites. Tribological performance of the hybrid composites was shown to be significantly affected by increases in MoS 2 , sliding distance (C), and load (A), as determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and grey-relational analysis (GRA). AZ91D 12 %, 6 % SiC MoS 2 demonstrated the best multi-response tribological performance increase. Approximately 6 wt % of MoS 2 reinforcement was found to be optimal. When the percentage of MoS 2 particles exceeded this value, wear rise dramatically due to particle aggregation. Hybridized reinforcements boosted the composites’ hardness.