Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Al-Zn-Sn Bearing Alloys for High Performance Applications

The mechanical behavior and indentation creep of Al-20 wt% Zn bearing alloy has been modified with adding 0.2 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 1 wt%, 1.5 wt% Sn. These bearing alloys were prepared by melt spinning technique. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the morphology of the melt spun alloys and x-ray diffractometer (XRD) for the identification of the phases pre- sent in these melt-spun bearing alloys. The results show that the structure of Al80-x-Zn20-SnX (X = 0.2%, 0.5%, 1% and 1.5%) bearing alloys is characterized by the presence of α-Al of FCC structure and SnZn intermetallic compound of anorthic structure. The Al-20Zn-1.5Sn has a smaller crystallite size and grain size as indicated from X-ray and SEM analysis respectively, which leading to the enhancement of the mechanical properties. The mechanical properties and indentation creep of these bearing alloys were studied by tensile test machine and vickers indentation testing at room temperature, respectively. The Al-20Zn-1.5Sn has higher hardness value and creep resistance than other alloys. This was attributed to the strengthen effect of Sn as a strong solid solution element in Al-matrix. The stress exponent values in the range 2.4 - 4.2 indicate that the grain boundary sliding is the possible mechanism during room temperature creep deformation of melt-spun Al-Zn-Sn bearing alloys.