This study reports the manufacture, microstructure, and tribological behaviour of carbon nanotube reinforced aluminium\ncomposites against pure aluminium. The specimens were fabricated using powder metallurgy method. The nanotubes in weight\npercentages of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 were homogeneously dispersed and mechanically alloyed using a high energy ball milling.\nThe milled powders were cold compacted and then isothermally sintered in air. The density of all samples was measured using\nArchimedes method and all had a relative density between 92.22% and 97.74%. Vickers hardness increased with increasing CNT\nfraction up to 1.5 wt% and then reduced.The microstructures and surfaceswere investigated using high resolution scanning electron\nmicroscope (SEM). The tribological tests showed that the CNT reinforced composites displayed lower wear rate and friction\ncoefficient compared to the pure aluminium under mild wear conditions. However, for severe wear conditions, the CNT reinforced\ncomposites exhibited higher friction coefficient and wear rate compared to the pure aluminium. It was also found that the friction\nand wear behaviour of CNT reinforced composites is significantly dependent on the applied load and there is a critical load beyond\nwhich CNTs could have adverse impact on the wear resistance of aluminium.
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