Impact of ZrO₂ on the Wear or Tribological Behaviour of Aluminium Hybrid Nanocomposites Using TOPSIS-Taguchi Method

This research mainly aimed to quantify the impact of incorporating Zirconia nanoparticles on the tribological behaviour of powder metallurgy-fabricated hybrid nanocomposites comprised of AA6351, nano Silicon Carbide (5 wt%) and nano Zirconium dioxide (3–9 wt% in steps of 3%). The primary aim of the research endeavour was to ascertain the importance of incorporating Zirconia nanoparticles in enhancing the tribological performance of powder metallurgy- fabricated hybrid nanocomposites comprised of AA6351, nano Silicon Carbide (5 wt%) and nano Zirconium dioxide (3–9 wt% in steps of 3%). This current study aims to enhance the factors (such as zirconium dioxide, sliding velocity and applied load) affecting wear performance of the hybrid nanometal matrix composite utilizing the Taguchi-TOPSIS method. The subsequent application of ANOVA further elucidates the statistical significance of each factor's contribution to the overall wear behaviour. These investigations were conducted through a pin-on-disc experiment designed using an L9 orthogonal array and analyzed with MINITAB 19 software. The Entropy weight measurement is employed to assess the individual weights of each response. Subsequently, the TOPSIS method is utilized to optimize the multi-objective responses, resulting in a single numerical index referred to as the TOPSIS closeness coefficient. Analysis revealed that the weight percentage of zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂) reinforcement at 9% has the most substantial influence (Level 3), followed by sliding velocity at 0.84 meters per second (Level 2) and load at 30 Newtons (Level 3). These parameters correspond to the optimal condition identified by the TOPSIS method. The ANOVA analysis revealed that the input factors, precisely weight percentage of ZrO₂ (44.689%) followed by sliding velocity (23.315) and normal load had an impact on the comprehensive TOPSIS performance values.