TITLE:
Sand Slurry Erosive Wear Behavior of Hot Extruded Al6061-SiC Composites
AUTHORS:
C.S. Ramesh, R. Keshavamurthy
KEYWORDS:
Slurry erosive wear, Hot extrusion, Composites, Silicon carbide.
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.10 No.6,
May
10,
2011
ABSTRACT: Aluminum based composites are very popular in automotive and aerospace segments. In
particular aluminum alloy-SiC composite systems are widely studied and seriously explored for
various other applications in defense and space. However they have not been looked at as
potential materials in naval and chemical applications where synergistic effects of both wear
and corrosion need to be addressed to. This needs the assessment of wear behavior of
composites. From the survey, it is evident that major focus is on mechanical and corrosion
properties of cast composites. However, meager information is available as regards the slurry
erosive wear behavior of cast and extruded metal matrix composites.
In the light of the above, the present investigation is aimed at studying in detail the slurry erosive
wear behavior of cast and hot extruded Al6061 and Al6061-SiC composites in sand slurry.
Al6061-SiC composites have been prepared primarily by vortex method. Hot extrusion of these
composites and the matrix alloy has been carried out at 550℃ using a 500T hydraulic press.
Both as cast and hot extruded composites have been subjected to microstructure studies,
microhardness, and slurry erosive wear tests. The hot extruded composites exhibit higher
hardness, and slurry erosive wear resistance when compared with as cast alloy and its
composites.