Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive investigation of the microstructural characteristics, hardness, and tribological physical characteristics of Aluminum (Al) AA6063 alloy matrix composites strengthened with Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂) and Tungsten Carbide (WC) particles. The mono and hybrid Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) were manufactured via the stir casting manner with 5 wt.% TiO₂ and varying wt.% of WC (0% to 1.0%) to study the influence of reinforcement on material properties. The T6 thermal treatment was performed on the MMCs with different ageing temperatures (145 °C, 165 °C, and 185 °C). Vickers hardness testing demonstrated improved hardness with increasing particles, and 165 °C aged hybrid MMC showed higher hardness, which is 37% higher than the as-cast hybrid MMC hardness. The microstructural exploration using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) publicized an even dissemination of reinforcement phases inside the Al matrix. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) observed the occurrence of Al, TiO₂, and WC particles. The tribological behavior was evaluated through pin-on-disc testing, showing a reduced Specific Wear Rate (SWR) with higher reinforcement content, and sliding wear impacting wear variables were optimized through the Taguchi technique. The lower load condition showed a mild SWR with an abrasive wear mechanism, highlighting the MMC's potential for wear-resistant applications.

Keywords

Metal matrix composites Vickers hardness microstructural analysis age hardening tribology and wear characteristics SDG - process

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Cole G

Sherman A

. Lightweight materials for automotive applications. Mater Charact 1995; 9: 3–9.

Srivastava

Garg

Kumar

, et al. A review on fabrication and characterization of hybrid aluminium metal matrix composite. Int J Adv Res Innov 2014; 2: 242–246.

Shorowordi K

Laoui

Haseeb A

SMA

, et al. Microstructure and interface characteristics of B₄C, SiC and Al₂O₃ reinforced Al matrix composites: A comparative study. J Mater Process Technol 2003; 142: 738–743.

Khakbiz

Akhlaghi

. Synthesis and structural characterization of Al-B₄C nano-composite powders by mechanical alloying. J Alloys Compd 2009; 24: 334–341.

Jiang

Chen

Wang

. Compression mechanical behaviour of 7075 aluminium matrix composite reinforced with nano-sized SiC particles in semisolid state. J Mater Sci Technol 2016; 32: 1197–1203.

Mosleh-Shirazi

Akhlaghi

Li D

. Effect of graphite content on the wear behavior of Al/2SiC/Gr hybrid nano-composites respectively in the ambient environment and an acidic solution. Tribol Int 2016; 103: 620–628.

Mohanavel

Kumar S

Mariyappan

, et al. Mechanical behavior of Al-matrix nanocomposites produced by stir casting technique. Mater Today Proc 2018; 5: 26873–26877.

Kumar K

Kiran

Sreebalaji V

. Micro structural characteristics and mechanical behaviour of aluminium matrix composites reinforced with titanium carbide. J Alloys Compd 2017; 723: 795–801.

Karakaş

Fenercioğlu T

Yalçinkaya

. The influence of flow forming on the precipitation characteristics of Al2024 alloys. Mater Lett 2021; 299: 218–227.

10.

Kiarasi

Babaei

Omidi Bidgoli

, et al. Mechanical characterization and creep strengthening of AZ91 magnesium alloy by addition of yttrium oxide nanoparticles. Proc IMechE, Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 2022; 236: 1489–1500.

11.

Bakhtiari

Zhou

, et al. Investigating the effect of reinforcing particles size and content on tensile and fatigue properties of heat-treated Al7075-SiC composites fabricated by the stir casting method. J Miner Met Mater Soc 2022; 74: 1859–1869.

12.

Rahmatabadi

Hashemi

Mohammadi

, et al. Experimental evaluation of the plane stress fracture toughness for ultrafine grained aluminum specimens prepared by accumulative roll bonding process. Mat Sci Eng 2017; 708: 301–310.

13.

Shuvho M

Chowdhury M

Kchaou

, et al. Surface characterization and mechanical behavior of aluminum based metal matrix composite reinforced with nano Al₂O₃, SiC. TiO₂ particles. Chem Data Collect 2020; 28: 100442.

14.

Lokesh

Manoj

Srikanth

, et al. Mechanical characterization of stir cast al 6063 TiO₂-cu reinforced hybrid metal matrix composites. Mater Today Proc 2018; 5: 18383–18392.

15.

Bülbül

Okumuş

. Microstructure, hardness, thermal and wear behaviour in al-10Ni/TiO₂ composites fabricated by mechanical alloying. Mater Chem Phys 2022; 281: 125908.

16.

Singh

Sharma

. Study on the influence of T4 and T6 heat treatment on the wear behavior of coarse and fine WC particulate reinforced LM28 aluminium cast composites. Comp. Part C: Open Access 2021; 4: 100106.

17.

Al-Jaafari

. Study the effects of titanium dioxide nano particles reinforcement on the mechanical properties of aluminum alloys composite. IOP Conf Ser: Mater Sci Eng 2021; 1105: 012062.

18.

Ravikumar

Kiran

Sreebalaji V

. Characterization of mechanical properties of aluminium/tungsten carbide composites. Measurement 2017; 102: 142–149.

19.

Jojith

Radhika

. Enhancement of mechanical and sliding wear properties of functionally graded Al-12Si-Cu composites. Mater Res Express 2019; 6: 0965b8.

20.

Sam

Radhika

Saleh

. Influence of boride, oxide, and carbide ceramics as secondary reinforcement in T6-A333 functionally graded hybrid composites. Ceram Int 2022; 48: 28528–28547.

21.

Xu C

Yang Y

Wang H

, et al. Effects of modification and heat-treatment on the abrasive wear behavior of hypereutectic Al-Si alloys. J Mater Sci 2007; 42: 6331–6338.

22.

Lashgari H

Sufizadeh A

Emamy

. The effect of strontium on the microstructure and wear properties of A356-10%B₄C cast composites. Mater Des 2010; 31: 2187–2195.

23.

Kennedy A

Karantzalis A

Wyatt S

. The microstructure and mechanical properties of TiC and TiB₂-reinforced cast metal matrix composites. J Mater Sci 1999; 34: 933–940.

24.

Jojith

Radhika

Govindaraju

. Reciprocating wear behavioural analysis of heat-treated aluminium ZrO₂/Al7Si0.3Mg functionally graded composite through Taguchi’s optimization method. Silicon 2022; 14: 11337–11354.

25.

Anilkumar

Shankar K

Balachandran

, et al. Impact of heat treatment analysis on the wear behaviour of al-14.2Si-0.3Mg-TiC composite using response surface methodology. Tribol Ind 2021; 43: 590–602.

26.

Satyanarayana

Rao

Krishna

. Influence of wear parameters on friction performance of A356 aluminum-graphite/granite particles reinforced metal matrix hybrid composites. Heliyon 2019; 5: e01770.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.82 MB

Comprehensive investigation of microstructure,hardness,and wear behavior in aluminum matrix composite reinforced with TiO 2 and WC

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material