Mechanical and tribology properties of Al-4.5%Cu-5%TiC metal matrix composites for light-weight structures

Abstract

Aluminum alloy based metal matrix composites has an important role in the field of automobile, aerospace, military and structural applications due to their enhanced mechanical and tribological properties as compared to base aluminum alloys. To enhance the mechanical and tribological properties suitable reinforcement has to be added to the aluminum alloy to fabricate the composites. Present investigation deals with mechanical and wear properties enhancement of Al-4.5%Cu alloy reinforced with 5%TiC in-situ metal matrix composite (MMC) through friction stir processing (FSP) techniques suitable for automobile and aerospace applications. The fabricated composites (Al-4.5%Cu/5%TiC) were hot rolled to remove defects such as porosity and voids. Experiments were conducted using pin-on-disc apparatus against abrasive paper by varying the applied load, sliding distance. The experimental results revealed that the weight loss and co-efficient of friction increases with increase in applied load and sliding distance. The MMC material, Al-4.5%Cu/5%TiC exhibited enhanced ultimate strength and hardness as compared to Al-4.5%Cu alloy. The contribution of TiC as reinforcement is clearly observed with an increase in hardness of the composite as compared with the matrix material. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and XRD analysis was done to study the microstructure of the fabricated materials. Keywords: Aluminum-based composites, Friction stir processing, Wear testing, Hardness, Titanium carbide, Microstructure