Creep behavior and wear resistance of Al 5083 based hybrid composites reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and boron carbide (B4C)

In the current research, aluminum based hybrid composite reinforced with boron carbide (B4C) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was produced by powder metallurgy method. creep behavior, wear resistance, surface roughness, and hardness of the samples were investigated. To prepare the samples, Al 5083 powder was milled with boron carbide particles and carbon nanotubes using planetary ball mill under argon atmosphere with ball-to-powder weight ratio of 10:1 for 5 h. Afterwards, the milled powders were formed by hot press process at 380 degrees C and then were sintered at 585 degrees C under argon atmosphere for 2 h. There was shown to be an increase in hardness values of composite with an increase in B4C content. The micrograph of worn surfaces indicate a delamination mechanism due to the presence of CNTs and abrasion mechanism in composite containing 10 vol.% B4C. Moreover, it was shown that increasing B4C content increases the wear resistance by 3 times under a load of 20 N and 10 times under a load of 10 N compared to CNTs-reinforced composite. surface roughness of the composite containing 5 vol.% CNT has shown to be more than other samples. The results of creep test showed that adding carbon nanotubes increases creep rate of Al 5083 alloy; however, adding B4C decreases its creep rate. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.