Analysis of Microstructure, Hardness and Wear of Al-SiC-TiB 2 Hybrid Metal Matrix Composite

Abstract

Good mechanical and thermal properties of hybrid metal matrix composites make them more demanding in various fields such as automotive, aerospace and structural applications.In this paper an effort has been made to fabricate a hybrid metal matrix composite, silicon carbide and titanium diboride reinforced in Al 6061 matrix using stir casting method. Microstructure and mechanical properties such as micro hardness and wear are studied for various compositions of reinforcements, 10% SiC and 2.5%, 5% and 10% TiB₂. The results indicate that the hardness value increases with the addition of the SiC and TiB₂ reinforcements to matrix Al6061, while the wear resistance increases up to certain amount and reduces drastically when crossed the transition load.