Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 54295436

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Friction and wear behavior of laser-sintered ironsilicon carbide composites

C.S. Ramesh a, , C.K. Srinivas b
a
b

Department of Mechanical Engineering, PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka 560 085, India
Central Manufacturing Technology Institute, Tumkur Road, Bangalore 560 022, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 19 December 2008
Received in revised form 10 April 2009
Accepted 17 April 2009
Keywords:
Laser
Prototyping
Wear
Metal matrix composite
Silicon carbide
Iron

a b s t r a c t
Laser sintering is currently one of the most popular techniques to develop innovative materials for many
of the high tech industrial applications owing to its ability to build complex parts in a short time. As such,
material researchers are focusing on developing advanced metal matrix composites through selective
laser sintering method to develop an intricate component eliminating delay in production time. In the
light of the above, the present work focuses on developing ironsilicon carbide (nickel coated) composites
using direct metal laser sintering technology. A laser speed of 50, 75, 100 and 125 mm/s were adopted.
Metallographic studies, friction and wear test using pin-on-disc have been carried out on both the matrix
metal and its composites. Load was varied from 10 to 80 N while sliding velocity was varied from 0.42
to 3.36 m/s for a duration of 30 min. A maximum of 7 wt.% of silicon carbide has been successfully dispersed in iron matrix by laser sintering. Increased content of SiC in iron matrix has resulted in signicant
improvement of both hardness and wear resistance. Lower the sintering speed, higher is the hardness and
wear resistance of both the matrix metal and its composites. However, coefcient of friction of composites
increased with increased SiC under identical test conditions. SEM observations of the worn surfaces have
revealed extensive damage to the iron pins, when compared with that of the composites.
2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In this era of global competition, there is a need for customerdriven product development with reduced cost and lead-time.
Rapid prototyping has emerged as a key enabling technology
with its ability to shorten product design and development cycle.
Rapid prototyping (RP) refers to a class of technologies that
can automatically construct physical models directly from computer aided design (CAD) data. RP has emerged as a powerful
technology in reducing product development cycle (Srinivas et
al., 2006a,b). RP processes can be divided into three groups
based on the state of material before part formation, namely:
liquid, powder and solid sheets (Kruth, 1991). Powder based
process is based on the solidication of ne powder either
with laser or by the application of binding agent. Among all
the RP processes, direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) is the
most popular technique to produce metal prototypes and tooling directly from 3D CAD data using metal powders. Currently
few materials are developed for producing metal prototypes and
tooling. Development of materials using laser sintering technology is the most sought-after subject for the researchers. Maraging
steel, stainless steel, cobalt chrome and titanium are the lat-

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 80 2672 1983; fax: +91 80 2672 0886.
E-mail address: csr gce@yahoo.co.in (C.S. Ramesh).
0924-0136/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2009.04.018

est materials processed by DMLS process for aerospace, dental

and medical applications as reported by M/s EOS Technologies,
Germany (www.eos.com (www.eos.info/en/products/metal-lasersintering.html)). Cobalt chrome and titanium based materials are
successfully processed by using electron beam for producing tooling and parts for medical and aerospace applications as reported
by M/s Arcam (www.arcam.com). Development of metal matrix
composites (MMCs) by laser sintering is still in infant stage of
its development. Currently, no company or academic institution
is able to process complex near-net shaped MMCs by rapid prototyping techniques to meet the requirements of user industries
(Vaucher et al., 2002). The physical and mechanical properties that
can be obtained with MMCs, have made them attractive candidate
materials for aerospace, automotive and numerous other applications. Particulate reinforced MMCs have attracted considerable
attention as a result of their low cost and characteristic isotropic
properties. Currently two approaches are adopted for producing
MMCs by RP technology. The rst approach is direct sintering of
parts from metalceramic powders and the second approach is the
production of porous ceramic preforms, which are lled by subsequent liquid metal inltration. Few researchers are reported to
have done some work in this area. Vaucher et al. (2002) have performed experiments on laser sintering of Al/SiC and Ti/SiC metal
matrix composites using Nd:YAG laser and were able to build few
layers. Murali et al. (2003) have studied microstructure, microhardness and wear of laser-sintered irongraphite parts. It is reported

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C.S. Ramesh, C.K. Srinivas / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 54295436

that laser sintering of iron and graphite powder produces a material,

which is substantially different from the same produced by conventional sintering. Chong et al. (2001) have studied the microstructure
and wear properties of laser surface-cladded Mo-WC MMCs on
AA6061 aluminum alloy. It is reported that a crack-free sintered
layer composite possessed better abrasive wear resistance when
compared with the base metal. Gaard et al. (2006) have studied on
microstructural characterization and wear behavior of Invar 36-TiC
MMCs produced by DMLS process. It is reported that the cracks in
the developed MMCs depend on the TiC content and wear in the
tested parts was dominated by abrasive process.
Rapid prototyping technology is a boon to tooling industry. The
lead-time and cost of tooling can be reduced considerably by adopting RP technology. RP materials available in the market are not able
to meet all the requirements of industry, in particular die and mould
industry. Dies used in metal forming and die casting applications
require high hardness and high wear resistance. Strength and wear
properties of the sintered parts depend on process parameters like
laser speed, laser power, layer thickness and part build orientation.
Wear and friction play a vital role on the mould life. Wear behavior of laser-sintered iron parts have been reported by Ramesh et
al. (2007a,b). Silicon carbide being very hard, has been a popular
choice as a reinforcement material to develop metal matrix composites. However, from the extensive literature survey, there are
no reports as regards the laser processing of ironsilicon carbide
composites although it is very interesting.
In the light of the above facts, this work focuses on the processing of ironsilicon carbide composites by DMLS technique.
Microstructure, density, microhardness, friction and wear behavior
of laser-sintered ironsilicon carbide MMCs have been characterized.

50 m respectively. Nitrogen atmosphere was maintained in the

build chamber.
Sintered parts were separated from base plate using wire-cut
electrical discharge machine. Wear specimens were machined on a
lathe to a diameter of 10 and a length of 25 mm. The density of sintered parts was evaluated using Archimedes principle of weighing
rst in air and then in water. Sintered specimens for microstructure studies were polished using abrasive papers (silicon carbide)
of grit size 120, 220, 320, 400 and 600, 0,1/0, 3/0 and 4/0. Further,
they were polished with 8 and 1 m diamond paste. Microhardness
tests were conducted at different locations along the sintered surface with a load of 25 g for a test duration of 9 s. Pin-on-disc type
wear tester was used for carrying out the friction and wear studies.
The counter disc was an hardened ball bearing steel-EN31 having
nominal composition of carbon 1.0%, manganese 0.37%, chromium
1.6% and remaining iron. The dimensions of the counter disc were
160 mm diameter and 8 mm thick, with an hardness of Rc 60. Flatnosed sintered cylindrical specimens of diameter 10 mm and height
25 mm, served as pins for wear test. The surface roughness of sintered parts and counter disc were maintained at centre line average
(CLA) value of 0.8 m prior to friction and wear tests. Friction and
wear tests were carried out under different loads and sliding velocities in ambient atmosphere without lubricant. Loads were varied
from 10 to 80 N in steps of 10, while the sliding velocities were varied from 0.42 to 3.36 m/s in steps of 0.42. Each test was carried out
for a duration of 30 min. Before each test, the specimens and counter
disc were cleaned with acetone. Fresh track on the counter disc was
used for each test. The coefcient of friction was determined using
frictional force data. Frictional force was measured using a force
transducer of accuracy 1 N. Wear was measured by weighing the
specimens before and after the test in an electronic digital balance
having an accuracy of 0.1 mg. Coefcient of friction and wear rates
of sintered samples were evaluated using the following equations:

2. Experimental details
Coefcient of friction () =
Silicon carbide (greenish in color) in powder form was obtained
from M/s Grindwell Norton, Bangalore. Iron powder produced by
water atomization process was procured from M/s Sundaram fasteners limited, Hyderabad. The powders were sieved using 20 and
50 m sieves for silicon carbide and iron powders respectively. The
particle size of the sieved silicon carbide and iron powders was
evaluated using sedigraph and particle size counter equipments
respectively. The morphology of the powders was evaluated by
scanning electron microscope.
Silicon carbide was coated with nickel using electroless plating
process as described elsewhere (Ramesh et al., 2007a,b). Nickelcoated silicon carbide was mixed with iron powder in a conical
mixer. The powders were thoroughly mixed and the mixing time
was optimized to achieve a homogeneous mix. The quality of the
mix was evaluated by statistical analysis method as described by
Russel and Dotter (1984). A standard deviation in the range of
0.10.2 was achieved for the quality of mix of all the powders
mixed. Different powder mixtures were prepared with 1, 2, 3, 5
and 7 wt.% of nickel-coated silicon carbide with iron powder. Wear
and microstructure specimens were prepared using EOSINT M250
extended sinter-station with CO2 laser as a heat source. EOSINT
M250 sinter-station and the sintering process is described elsewhere (Gajendran et al., 2003). The wear specimens were built to a
size of 12 mm diameter and height of 28 mm while the specimens
for microstructure studies were built to a size of 10 mm diameter and to a height of 5 mm. The build orientation during sintering
was such that the axis of the cylindrical specimens was parallel to
the build direction. Laser power was maintained constant at 180 W
with laser beam diameter of 0.4 mm. Sintering speed was varied
from 50 to 125 mm/s in steps of 25, while hatch spacing, hatch width
and layer thickness were maintained constant at 0.2 mm, 5 mm and

F
N

(1)

where F is the frictional force and N is normal load.

Wear rate =

V
NL

(2)

where V is the volumetric loss, L is sliding distance and N is normal

load.
Scanning electron micrograph and energy dispersive spectroscopy studies were carried out on the worn out wear specimens.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Morphology of iron and silicon carbide powder
Fig. 1a and b shows the morphology of iron and silicon carbide
powders respectively. Iron powder has a spherical shape and silicon carbide has irregular shape. The composition of iron powder as
given by the powder supplier contains carbon, sulphur and phosphorus of 0.14, 0.02 and 0.015% and the rest iron. The grain size of
iron measured by particle size counter equipment varied from 10 to
60 m with an average grain size of 50 m. The grain size of silicon
carbide varied from 6 to 40 m with an average grain size of 20 m.
Fig. 2 shows the morphology of silicon carbide particles before and
after electroless nickel plating. It is clearly seen from Fig. 2 b that
there is a uniform coating of nickel on silicon carbide particles.
3.2. Microstructural studies
Fig. 3a and b shows optical micrographs of iron and 5 wt.% silicon carbide. Fig. 3b shows a homogeneous dispersion of SiC in iron
matrix is achieved. Fig. 4 shows scanning electron micrographs of

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Fig. 1. Scanning electron micrograph of iron and silicon carbide.

Fig. 2. Scanning electron micrographs of coated and uncoated silicon carbide powders.

iron and ironsilicon carbide composites. It is observed in Fig. 4 b

that the silicon carbide particle is distinct and there exists a good
bond between iron matrix and silicon carbide particles.
3.3. Density
Fig. 5 shows the variation of density of laser-sintered iron
and ironsilicon carbide composites at different laser speeds. It is
observed that there is a decrease in density with increase in SiC reinforcement for a given laser speed. Lower the laser speed, higher is
the density of the composites. This can be attributed to the fact that

at lower sintering speed, the extent of melting is higher as the heat

energy absorbed by the powder is more. This results in improved
melting which contributes to the higher density. These observations are in line with other researchers (Simchi et al., 2001; Simchi
and Pohl, 2003).
3.4. Microhardness
Fig. 6 shows the variation of hardness of the iron composite
with increased SiC content. It is evident from the gure that hardness of the composite increases with increase in silicon carbide

Fig. 3. Optical micrograph of laser-sintered (a) iron and (b) iron5 wt.%SiC composite sintered at laser speed of 100 mm/s.

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Fig. 4. Scanning electron micrograph of (a) iron and (b) iron5 wt.% SiC composites sintered at laser speed of 100 mm/s.

content. A maximum hardness of 740 VHN is achieved for composite with 7 wt.% of SiC. The drastic improvement of hardness can
be attributed to (a) high hardness of silicon carbide (b) the thermal mismatch between iron and silicon carbide which leads to the
generation of high density of dislocation at the interface of iron
and silicon carbide which in turn retards the plastic deformation.
Similar results are achieved by other researchers while producing aluminium alloy composite by inltration process (Sahin and

Acilar, 2003). Further, it is observed that hardness of the composite increases with decreased laser speed. At decreased laser speeds,
more heat energy is available, there by more melting of powder
takes place leading to increase in density. It is the increased density
that contributes to the increase in hardness.
3.5. Coefcient of friction
3.5.1. Effect of silicon carbide (SiC)
Fig. 7 shows the variation of coefcient of friction with increased
weight percent of silicon carbide in iron matrix. It is observed that
increased content of SiC a very hard reinforcement in a very soft
matrix results in increased coefcient of friction of the composite. Strongly bonded silicon carbide in the composite pins do act
as sharp cutting edges resulting in abrading of the hardened steel
counter disc as can be observed in Fig. 8. It is this phenomenon that
is largely responsible for the increased coefcient of friction when
compared to iron. The lower value of coefcient of friction of iron
can be mainly attributed to the material transfer from the softer
iron pin on to the hardened counter disc and also to the formation
of oxide lms, which act as solid lubricant (Ramesh et al., 2007a,b).

Fig. 5. Variation of density of ironSiC composites with different weight percents

of SiC.

Fig. 6. Variation of microhardness of ironSiC composites with different weight

percents of SiC.

3.5.2. Effect of laser speed

Fig. 9 shows the variation of laser scan speed on coefcient of
friction of iron and its composites. It is observed that the coefcient
of friction decreases with increased laser speed for both iron and its
composites. With increased laser speed, the density of the sintered
parts gets reduced as discussed in the previous section. This factor
promotes lesser extent of asperity interaction leading to the reduc-

Fig. 7. Effect of SiC on coefcient of friction of laser-sintered ironSiC composites.

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Fig. 10. Variation of coefcient of friction of iron and iron5 wt.% SiC composites
with load.

Fig. 8. Optical macrophotograph of worn out wear track of hardened steel counter
disc.

tion in the friction during the sliding motion of the contacting parts.
However at all the laser speeds studied, the coefcient of friction
of iron composites is higher when compared with iron matrix.
3.5.3. Effect of load
The variation of coefcient of friction with normal load is shown
in Fig. 10. It is observed that increased load has resulted in decrease
in coefcient of friction for both iron and its composite in the
load range of 1050 N. However for loads beyond 50 N and up to
a steady load of 80 N, there is negligible effect on coefcient of friction. However at all the loads studied, the coefcient of friction
of iron is lower when compared with iron composites. The initial
steep decrease in coefcient of friction with increased load can be
explained to the higher probability of shearing of asperity junctions
because of the increased plastic deformation at higher loads. The
interlocking phenomena during the sliding motion of the contacting pair is not dominant owing to the greater extent of destruction
of asperity junctions leading to lowering of coefcient of friction
with increased load.
3.5.4. Effect of sliding velocity
The variation of coefcient of friction with sliding velocity is
shown in Fig. 11. It is observed that at all the sliding velocities stud-

Fig. 9. Effect of laser speed on coefcient of friction of iron and iron5 wt.% SiC
composites.

ied, ironsilicon carbide composites exhibit higher coefcient of

friction when compared with iron. Increase in sliding velocities
beyond 1.26 m/s, results in marginal change in the coefcient of
friction of iron and its composites. This can be attributed to the
fact that at higher sliding velocities, the material transfer will have
reached equilibrium during which a thin and continuous protective
lm is formed due to which the frictional forces are stable. In case of
iron, initially with increase in sliding velocity up to 1.26 m/s, there
is a gradual increase in coefcient of friction. This can be mainly
attributed to the larger extent of plastic deformation with increased
slid distances which in turn increases the extent of interaction of
asperities leading to higher frictional force during sliding.
3.6. Wear
3.6.1. Effect of reinforcement
Fig. 12 shows the variation of wear rate of iron and ironsilicon
carbide composites with increase in silicon carbide. It is clearly
observed that the dispersion of silicon carbide, a hard face in the
soft iron matrix tends to reduce the wear rates of iron composites. Wear rate of ironsilicon carbide composites decreases with
increase in silicon carbide content. It is reported that the incorporation of hard particles such as silicon carbide and alumina in
wrought and cast aluminium alloys improves the sliding wear resistance of these alloys (Saka and Karalekas, 1985; Hoskins et al., 1982;
Surappa et al., 1982; Anand and Kishore, 1983; Prasad and Rohatgi,

Fig. 11. Variation of coefcient of friction with sliding velocity of iron and
iron5 wt.% SiC composites.

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C.S. Ramesh, C.K. Srinivas / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 209 (2009) 54295436

Fig. 14. Variation of wear rate with sliding velocity.

Fig. 12. Variation of wear rate of iron and ironSiC composites with varying SiC
content.

1987). The drastic reduction in the wear rates of composites can be

attributed to the following:
1 An improved hardness of composites on the incorporation of silicon carbide which is a hard phase. An increase in hardness results
in the improvement of wear and seizure resistance of materials
(Ramesh et al., 1991).
2 Further, there is an experimental support and practical evidence
to suggest that the onset of adhesive process such as scufng
and seizure are restricted by increase in hardness of materials
(Ramesh and Seshadri, 2003).
3 Existence of good bond between the matrix and silicon carbide particles as evidenced in the scanning electron micrograph
shown in Fig. 4b. Interfacial bond between the matrix and the
silicon carbide particle plays a signicant role in wear process.
It is reported that the wear resistance of CuAl2 O3 composites
decreases with increased alumina content. This deterioration of

Fig. 13. Energy dispersive spectroscopy of worn track of ironSiC composite.

the wear resistance of the composites has been attributed to the

poor interfacial bond between the matrix and the reinforcement
(Saka and Karalekas, 1985).
4 Formation of inhomogeneous transfer layer which consists of
iron matrix, fragments of silicon carbide and nickel on the sliding surfaces of pins under the steady state of wear as evidenced
by energy dispersive spectroscopy pattern of the worn surfaces
of the ironsilicon carbide composites as shown in Fig. 13. The
transferred iron layer may get oxidized due to the increased localized heating under oxidizing atmosphere, leading to the lowering
of material transfer. Similar observations have been reported by

Fig. 15. Variation of wear rate with load and laser speed. (a) Variation of wear rate
with load and sintering speed for iron. (b) Variation of wear rate with load and laser
speed for iron composites.

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5435

Fig. 16. SEM of worn surfaces at sliding velocity of 1.26 m/s and load of 20 N. (a) Iron-sintered at 100 mm/s. (b) Iron3 wt.%SiC sintered at 100 mm/s.

Alphas and Zhang (1994). Further, once the transferred layer are
established on the composite samples, the steel counter face can
be considered to be mainly in contact with the mixture of iron
and its oxide. The iron oxides are known to have low coefcient
of friction and these layers are expected to provide in situ lubricating effect (Rabinowicz, 1996; Bowden and Tabor, 1953). This
lubricating effect provides the materials with higher incorporation of reinforcement with higher wear resistance. The existence
of such transfer layer in case of aluminum based composites has
been reported by several researchers (Alphas and Zhang, 1994;
Biswas and Pramila Bai, 1981; Murali et al., 1982).
3.6.2. Effect of sliding velocity
The variation of wear rate of iron and its composites with
increase in sliding velocity is shown in Fig. 14. At all the sliding
velocities studied, ironsilicon carbide composite possesses lower
wear rate when compared with iron. A steep decrease in wear rate
is observed with increase in sliding velocity at a sliding velocity
beyond 0.84 mm/s and remains steady with further increase in sliding velocity for iron. The steep decrease in wear rate of iron can be
attributed to the fact that the higher sliding velocities result in promoting slightly higher temperature at the interfaces of the mating
part which may come out as the formation of oxide lms on the mating surfaces. These oxide lms in between the mating surfaces will
have a benecial effect in retarding the material transfer process
during sliding of the mating parts.
Once a stable lm is formed any further increase in sliding
velocity will not affect the adhesion process, there by unaffecting the material removal rate from the sliding surfaces resulting
in steady wear rate. However, in case of FeSiC composites there
is a steady increase in wear rate with increase in sliding velocity
beyond 0.84 m/s. This increase in wear rate of composite can be
mainly attributed to the fact that silicon carbide which is a very
hard phase present in the composite tends to disturb the formation
of protective lubricating lm of iron and its oxides. It is important to
ensure that the lubricating lm is continuous and not fragmented
for lower wear rate.
3.6.3. Effect of load
The variation of wear rate with contact load is shown in Fig. 15.
It is observed that initially for up to a load of 60 N, there is a drastic
reduction in wear rate. Beyond 60 N the wear rate is steady for the
load up to 80 N. However at all loads studied composites exhibit
lower wear rate when compared with iron. Further it is observed
that the laser speeds during the processing of composites have a
signicant effect on the wear rates of the developed composites.
A decrease in laser speed results in better wear resistance of the

developed composites. Further for a given laser scan speed, the

worn surfaces of iron matrix have undergone severe plastic deformation with severe cracking when compared with the ironsilicon
carbide composites as shown in Fig. 16.
4. Conclusions
Ironsilicon carbide composites have been successfully developed by laser sintering. Lower laser speeds have resulted in higher
density, higher microhardness and higher wear resistance of the
developed composites The developed composites have exhibited
higher microhardness, coefcient of friction and lower wear rates
when compared with iron. For all the loads and the sliding velocities studied, the developed composites have exhibited higher wear
resistance and higher coefcient of friction when compared with
iron. An extensive damage has been observed for iron pins when
compared with that of the developed composites.
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to Shri B.R.Satyan, Director, Central
Manufacturing Technology Institute, Bangalore, India and Principal and Management, PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore for
extending support and encouragement through out the course of
this work.
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