Tribological Properties of Magnesium Matrix Composite Alloys Dispersed with Mg2Si Particles

by Katsuyoshi Kondoh, Ritsuko Tsuzuki, & Eiji Yuasa AZojomo, October 2005 It is important to improve wear resistance and tribological properties of magnesium alloys, in applying them to friction components. However, the conventional magnesium alloys show a low wear resistance due to their low hardness. Therefore, the friction components made of the conventional magnesium alloys are attacked by the counter materials such as steel, copper, and aluminum alloys. In this study, the magnesium matrix composite alloys with Mg₂Si dispersoids were developed via solid-state processing. Mg₂Si has a higher hardness than the conventional steel, for example Mg₂Si bulky materials show micro Vicker’s hardness of 350~700 Hv. Therefore, Mg₂Si particles distributed in the matrix are effective to improve a wear resistance when contacting counter materials. In particular, the composite alloys show a low friction coefficient in an oil lubricant when including Mg₂Si/MgO dispersoids. Read more