High temperature wear of sand cast and die cast Al and Mg alloys for continuously variable transmission (CVT) and other applications

The project will determine sliding wear behaviour of lightweight Al and Mg alloys for the continuously variable transmission (CVT) bore application and other engine applications. High temperature lubricated wear tests that simulate the actual operating conditions of CVT bore will be carried out. In addition, tests will be conducted at room temperature and under the dry conditions to benchmark wear resistances of different cast alloys and determine the wear mechanisms. Tests will be conducted using a block-on-ring tribometer at the University of Windsor’s Tribology of Materials Research Centre. The project will simultaneously determine the roles of hardness, roughness, porosity as well as tribolayer formation on the sliding wear behaviour of the alloys by conducting worn surface and subsurface characterizations using analytical microscopy and spectroscopy. The results will be presented in the form of wear mechanism maps, which will be used to develop new wear resistant lightweight alloys by GM.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ahmet Alpas

Student:

Mingxiao Yang;Xi Zhang;Guanhong Sun

Partner:

General Motors

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Windsor