Evaluating Wear Performance of Silicon Nitride-Hexagonal Boron Nitride Composite Using Taguchi Method

Objective: Research in the field of bio-tribology is trying to evaluate biomaterials with minimum wear. Silicon nitride (Si3N4) has recently been proposed as an alternative material for hip/knee joint replacement. The wear properties of Si3N4 can be enhanced by adding hexagonal boron nitride (hBN).

Methods/Analysis: In this article, the sliding wear behavior of Si3N4-hBN composite against alumina and steel (ASTM 316L) is evaluated in order to decrease wear loss. An attempt was made to determine the effect of hBN addition on Si3N4 wear performance. The experiments were planned according to Design of Experiments (DoE) – orthogonal array Taguchi method to evaluate the effect hBN addition for wear characteristic of silicon nitride..

Findings: To reduce Si3N4 wear loss, Taguchi analysis suggests 15N load and 8% volume of hBN against alumina, and 15N load and 12% volume of hBN against steel. The interaction between load and hBN addition is playing important role in wear performance of silicon nitride