Process development in stir casting and investigation on microstructures and wear behavior of TiB2 on Al6061 MMC

The unique characteristics of the composite materials for the specific requirements makes these materials more popular in a variety of applications such as aerospace, automotive (pistons, cylinder liners, bearings), and structural components, resulting in savings of material and energy. In this paper aluminium alloy Al6061 was reinforced with TiB2 particles by stir casting method. Metal matrix composites produced by stir casting method have more advantages compare with other methods. Experiments were conducted by varying weight fraction of TiB2 (0%, 4%, 8% and 12%), while keeping all other parameters constant. The wear mechanism was studied through worn surface and wear analysis as well as microscopic examination of the wear tracks. This study revealed that the addition of TiB2 improves the wear resistance of aluminium composites. The results showed that increasing the mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, wear resistance and hardness caused by the percentage of TiB2 present in the samples. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.