Journal of Materials Processing Technology 118 (2001) 187192

Characterisation and tribological evaluation of a nickel surface

alloyed aluminium-based material
M. Heydarzadeh Sohi
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
Electron beam nickel surface alloying of LM13, a near eutectic AlSi-based material, was carried out. The alloying resulted in the
formation of a surface layer with about 25 wt.% nickel in the form of hard nickel aluminide (NiAl3) dendrites. The overall hardness of the
layer was about 340 HV.
The sliding wear and friction properties of the treated material was then measured by means of a pin on disc wear testing machine, using
a steel ball (hardened in excess of 750 HV) as the counterface. The results showed signicant increase in the wear life of LM13 after surface
alloying. The alloying also changed the mode of wear from a predominantly adhesive mode, in the case of unalloyed LM13, to a mainly
abrasive wear mode. Nickel alloying also reduced the coefcient of friction, which could otherwise be higher because of the strong
adhesion of aluminium to steel. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Surface alloying; Aluminium; Tribology

1. Introduction
Surface alloying of aluminium alloys has attracted a great
deal of attention in recent years. This is because surface
alloying can provide aluminium materials with fairly hard,
coherent and thick surface layers, and hence considerable
improvement in wear life. Many elements have been used
and investigated for surface alloying of aluminium materials
such as silicon [1], boron [2], and also transition elements
like copper [3], iron [4], and chromium [5].
Nickel is also an interesting alloying element in that it can
form a number of intermetallic compounds with aluminium.
These compounds are Al3Ni, Al3Ni2, AlNi and AlNi3. If
there are a sufcient number of nickel aluminide intermetallic precipitates suitably dispersed, there can be a signicant improvement in the hardness.
Surface alloying of aluminium with nickel has been
investigated by a number of research workers using both
laser and electron beam techniques [6]. Arnberg and Lange
[7] employed an electron beam for nickel alloying of
commercially pure aluminium. The hardness was reported
to be over 200 HV. In other work, nickel alloying of
Al10%Si material also showed a hardness of 210 HV for
the alloyed layer, where the nickel concentration in the
alloyed region was up to 26 wt.% [3]. Mordike [8] investigated the nickel surface alloying of aluminium materials
E-mail address: mhsohi@ut.ac.ir (M. Heydarzadeh Sohi).

using a laser beam. She reported the presence of Al3Ni,

mainly, and also Al3Ni2 intermetallic phases in the alloyed
layers. The maximum hardness was reported to be nearly
1000 HV in a layer around 100 mm thick with 25 at.% nickel.
Tribological properties of surface alloyed aluminiumbased material have also been investigated and considerable
improvement in wear resistance has been reported [9].
In this work, surface alloying of LM13 (a near eutectic
aluminiumsilicon-based material) with nickel has been
investigated. Optical and scanning electron microscopy,
X-ray diffraction analysis, hardness testing, and pin on disc
wear testing were used in this investigation.
2. Experimental
Sixty millimetre disc type wear test specimens were
machined from an LM13 cast bar. This material is an age
hardening alloy and its hardness after solid solution treatment and optimum ageing reaches 140 HV.
An electron beam unit was used for nickel surface alloying of wear test specimens. The alloying was carried out by
pre-plating of the substrate via nickel electroplating, and the
thickness of the plated layer was about 50 mm. Surface
alloying was then carried out in two stages. The rst stage
was in order to fuse the pre-plated layer on the surface of the
substrate and the second stage was to obtain a fairly deep and
uniform alloyed layer. The beam parameters used for each

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Table 1
Electron beam parameters used in nickel surface alloying of LM13
Stage

Voltage
(kV)

Current
(mA)

Feed
rate (mm/s)

Transverse
width (mm)

1
2

100
100

5
5

13
5

6
3

case are given in Table 1. The alloyed surfaces were then

polished with 1200-grit emery paper for wear testing.
The surface roughness of the materials was measured by
means of a Talysurf roughness tester. Microstructural examination of the surface alloyed material was carried out by
using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The nickel
content of the alloyed layer was determined by electron
probe microanalysis. X-ray diffraction, using Cu Ka radiation, was used to identify the phases in the surface alloyed
material. The hardness of the alloyed layer was measured by
means of a Leitz microhardness machine, using a 50 g load.
The wear resistances of the treated and untreated materials were evaluated using a pin on disc test rig. Five millimetre steel ball bearing with a hardness of about 750 HV
was used as the reference to slide against wear test specimens. The sliding speed and distance were xed at 10 cm/s
and 50 m, respectively. The volume wear rate for each case
was calculated on the basis of the area of the wear track,
measured from Talysurf roughness proles. The surface,
section and debris of the worn specimens were then studied,
using optical and scanning electron microscopes. Friction
force was also recorded during wear testing and variations in
coefcient of friction were then calculated by dividing the
friction force by the applied load.

Fig. 1. SEM micrograph of an electron beam nickel-alloyed LM13.

3. Results and discussion

Fig. 1 shows the SEM micrograph of a cross-section of the
surface alloyed material. An X-ray line for nickel is also
shown in the gure. This gure also shows the formation of
nickel rich dendrites in the alloyed region. The depth of the
alloyed layer after polishing was 0.4 mm. The X-ray
diffraction pattern of the alloyed material (Fig. 2) indicates
that these dendrites are NiAl3. This is in agreement with the
EPMA analysis of these dendrites, where the nickel content
in them was shown to be around 41 wt.%. The EPMA
analysis of the interdendritic areas around the particles,
on the other hand, showed little nickel content (less than
0.5 wt.%) in these areas. The total nickel content measured

Fig. 2. X-ray diffraction pattern generated from the electron beam nickel-alloyed LM13.

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189

Fig. 3. The microhardness profile of the nickel surface alloyed LM13.

in the alloyed layer was 25 wt.%, which corresponds to

the level which may be estimated from a simple mixing
rule.
The hardness prole for nickel alloying is shown in Fig. 3,
indicating a hardness of up to 340 HV0.05 (the hardness of
the nickel aluminide dendrites was found to be as high as
800 HV0.01). This hardness prole shows an abrupt transition between the alloyed layer and the substrate, which can
be correlated with the very sharp transition in nickel concentration from the alloyed layer to the substrate. The
variation in the hardness values in the alloyed region is
due to a small degree of heterogeneity in the alloyed
structure in terms of the dispersion of the hard nickel
aluminide particles.
Fig. 4 shows a surface alloyed wear specimen after being
polished with emery paper to grade 1200. The relevant
surface roughness values of this specimen have been compared with the Ra and Rmax of the polished LM13 specimen
in Fig. 5. As it is shown, the polished nickel surface alloyed
material is smoother than the polished untreated LM13. This
can be explained by the fact that during polishing relatively
soft LM13 material may be easily scratched by SiC emery
paper, while the presence of the hard nickel aluminide in the
alloyed layer prevents such scratching.

Fig. 4. A polished electron beam nickel-alloyed LM13 wear test disc.

Observation of the wear tracks on the fully heat treated

LM13, Fig. 6a, and its relevant steel ball counterface after
sliding, Fig. 6b, conrms that wear of this material is
controlled by extensive deformation of the matrix and
adhesion of aluminium to steel ball. The adhesion of aluminium to steel is a well-established fact. This has been
related to the high mutual solubility of these two metals as
well as to the ease of formation of a solid solution of
aluminium in steel [10].
Examination of the microsection of the LM13 wear
tracks, a typical example of which is shown in Fig. 7a, also
indicates the creation of a subsurface layer beneath the wear
scar. The hardness of this layer was well above 300 HV0.05,
more than twice the hardness of the substrate. This means
that sliding of the steel ball on LM13 results in the formation
of a work hardened layer. Some other research workers have
also noticed this phenomenon [11]. They have suggested the
following explanation on the formation of this layer. At the
commencement of the sliding, the force acting on the
rubbing surface is transmitted to the subsurface region.
The ductile matrix undergoes plastic deformation and cracks

Fig. 5. Comparison of Ra and Rmax values for polished LM13 and nickel-alloyed specimens.

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Fig. 8. Wear debris produced from LM13 substrate under a load of 10 N.

Fig. 6. (a) SEM pictures of the wear track produced on LM13 and (b) its
relevant steel counterface at 10 N applied load.

develop in the hard brittle interdendritic silicon and other

intermetallic compounds. Eventually, these particles are
fragmented and form the work hardened layer. Fig. 7b shows
that the hardened layer is fractured at its interface with the

Fig. 7. Microsection of worn LM13 showing: (a) the formation of a

hardened layer near the surface; (b) separation of the hardened layer.

substrate and it seems that, at a later stage, all or part of this

layer is separated from the wear track in the form of debris.
The nucleation sites for the wear debris are probably created
below the sliding surface as a result of Hertzian stresses.
However, a general look at the SEM micrograph of the
debris, Fig. 8, indicates that the above explanation may not
be the only mechanism for the formation of the wear debris.
The presence of some thin, long, debris indicates possible
delamination of the debris from the surface. In this case, as
a result of induced Hertzian stresses the ductile matrix
undergoes plastic deformation and voids develop near the
hard brittle particles, such as silicon and some intermetallic
compounds that are present in the substrate. The voids are
then accumulated and form cracks, which extend to the
surface and eventually a wear fragment is formed [12].
As shown in Fig. 9, nickel surface alloying of LM13
improved the wear resistance of this material signicantly.
By examining the SEM micrographs of the nickel-alloyed
wear tracks, Fig. 10, it appears that the mode of wear in
nickel alloying is abrasive. However, SEM examination of
the worn steel ball used against this material also revealed a
series of parallel grooves, Fig. 11, indicating that the steel
counterface has also been worn by an abrasive mechanism.
It is postulated that the wear mechanism at the running-in
stage might have been adhesive, resulting in the formation of
some debris. The wear debris, which are hard, will then rub
in between the alloyed material and steel counterface,
resulting in a three-body abrasive wear. This process leads
to the crushing of the debris to smaller pieces as shown in
Fig. 12a. On the other hand, agglomeration of small debris
and formation of big particles at some stage of the wear is
also possible (Fig. 12b). The abrasion of the steel ball during
the course of wear means that it is likely that small steel
particles are among the wear debris and also in agglomerate
particles.
The change in the wear mechanism as a result of nickel
alloying can also be noticed in the cross-section examination
of the wear tracks. The micrograph of the cross-section
shown in Fig. 13 indicates that in nickel-alloyed material the

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191

Fig. 9. The volume wear rate of LM13 before and after electron beam surface alloying at different loads.

Fig. 10. SEM picture of the typical wear track produced on nickel-alloyed
LM13.
Fig. 11. SEM picture of a worn steel ball used as a counterface against
nickel-alloyed LM13.

Fig. 12. (a, b) Wear debris produced from nickel-alloyed LM13 under a load of 10 N.

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seizure failure of aluminium to steel is shown in Fig. 6b,

which shows a steel ball which was used as the counterface
for sliding against LM13 material.
It has been reported that surface alloying resulted in
limited improvement in seizure resistance of aluminium.
This has been related to the precipitation of hard phases
like nickel aluminide in the aluminium matrix by surface
alloying [14]. Improvement in seizure resistance results in
lower friction in nickel-alloyed material as compared with
the LM13 itself.
Fig. 13. Microsection of the worn surface alloyed material after wearing
under a load of 20 N.

4. Conclusions
1. Nickel surface alloying resulted in the formation of hard
and wear-resistant surface layer on aluminium-based
material. This was due to the formation of a large
number of fine nickel aluminide (NiAl3) dendrites,
which were uniformly distributed in the alloyed zone.
2. Nickel surface alloying changed the mode of wear from
a predominantly adhesive mode, in the case of unalloyed
LM13, to a mainly abrasive wear mode.
3. Nickel surface alloying resulted in lower friction
between the substrate and the steel counterface.
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Fig. 14. Variation of the coefficient of friction with distance for LM13 and
surface alloyed LM13 at an applied load of 20 N.

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