Corrosion and wear behavior of recycled aluminum alloy reinforced with rice husk ash

Wear and corrosion analysis were performed on recycled aluminum alloy/rice husk ash composites in this study. The composite was prepared by adding rice husk ash (RHA) as reinforcement in percentages of 5, 10 and 15 to aluminum waste cans, as the matrix. The corrosion investigations show that the RHA particles influenced the corrosion characteristics of the composites. The susceptibility to corrosion increases as the percentage addition of the RHA increases beyond 5% wt. The corrosion was mitigated most at 5% wt. reinforcement, while the worst corrosion attack occurred at the 15% wt. of RHA addition. The wear analysis revealed that the RHA addition to the aluminum matrix improved the wear resistance of the composites. The wear rate reduces as the percentage addition of the RHA increases, resulting in the lowest wear rate at 15% wt. of RHA. The improvement in the resistance to wear of the composites indicates an enhancement in the composite’s hardness, highlighting the promising potential of integrating RHA into aluminum alloy to promote hardness and resistance to wear. The corrosion analysis, however, indicates that introducing RHA to the aluminum matrix beyond 5% wt. may compromise the application of the composites in corrosive environments unless countermeasures are incorporated.