Mechanical and Wear Properties of Cold Extruded Al6063 Metal Matrix Alloy Reinforced with Silicon Carbide, Alumina and Cerium Oxide

Abstract

Metal matrix composite is considered in various engineering fields like Automobile, medical, electronics aerospace, marine, recreational sectors, of which Aluminum metal matrix composite is considered mostly because of its high strength to weight ratio, easy of fabrication, corrosion resistance, good aesthetic appearance and high resistance to wear etc. This paper concentrates on the effect of secondary processing (Cold Extrusion) on mechanical and wear properties of Al6063 reinforced with SiC, Al2O3 and CeO2 particles. Here composite systems prepared by varying reinforcement from 0% to 8% in steps of 2%. Stir casting route adopted for casting composite systems after casting the composite is made to pass through extrusion process with an extrusion ratio of 1.93 with a total strain of 1.45. All composite systems tested for mechanical properties as per ASTM and ISO standard. Wear test was conducted on pin on disc setup for different loads, reinforcement, sliding distance and sliding speed. Results reveals that due increase in reinforcement the mechanical properties have improved further improvement observed when subjected to extrusion process, similar observation was made for wear studies which conclude the wear rate is improved for extruded composite as compared to cast composite systems observed by various researchers.