The effect of primary and secondary processing on the abrasive wear properties of compocast aluminum 6061 alloy matrix composites

In this present work, the compocasting method was used to produce Aluminum 6061 alloy matrix composites reinforced SiC particles with a variety of particle average sizes of 1, 5, 20 and 50 mu m. The influences of particle volume fraction of metal matrix composites on the dry sliding wear behaviour have been investigated. The acceptable quality of the fabricated composites calls for a proper selection of process parameter such as pouring temperature, stirring speed, stirring time, preheat temperature of reinforcement, minimum level of the porosity and prevention of the chemical reaction between reinforcement and matrix. Experimental test was carried out on the porosity and hardness of the composites. A pin-on-disc wear test was used to assess the effect of SiC content, SiC size and secondary mechanical processing with different rolling reductions on wear characteristics of Al matrix composites. It is noted that the particle distribution in the cold rolled composites is much more uniform than the as-cast one.