Experimental studies on physical and wear behavior of Al6061-SiC composites

G.B. VEERESH KUMAR*, C.S.P. RAO¹, N. SELVARAJ² and K.M. NAGENDRA PRASAD³

*Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT, Warangal (India). Department of Mechanical Engineering, M V J College of Engineering, Bangalore - 560 067 (India). ¹-²Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT, Warangal (India). ³HET Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Whitefield road, Mahadevpura Post, Bangalore (India).

Received on August 08, 2009 and accepted on October 15, 2009

ABSTRACT

The Aluminum based composites are increasingly being used in various industries, owing to their improved strength, stiffness and wear resistance properties. In this paper it is aimed to present the experimental results of the studies conducted regarding density, microstructure and wear resistance properties of Al6061-SiC. The composites are prepared using the liquid metallurgy technique, in which 2-6 wt% of particulates were dispersed in the base matrix in steps of 2. The experimental results showed that the SiC reinforcement in the Al6061 matrix material resulted in increasing the density of the composites. The experimental density values agreed with the theoretical density values obtained using the rule of mixtures. The microphotographs of the composites studied revealed the uniform distribution of the particles in the matrix system. The wear factor obtained using computerized pin on disc wear tester with counter surface as EN31 steel disc (HRC60) and composite pin as specimen, demonstrated the superior wear resistance property.

Keywords : Al6061-SiC, composites, density, microstructure, mechanical properties, wear resistance