Investigation of Tribological Properties of Stir Cast Hybrid Aluminum Composites

The need of enhanced properties of metal matrix composites for aerospace and automotive industries has led to the fabrication of hybrid composites. Use of ceramic particles for fabricating metal matrix composites has been in the eye of researchers. Many researchers have fabricated ceramic particles-reinforced aluminum composites to study their mechanical and tribological properties. This study reflects the effect of reinforcement (boron carbide and silicon carbide) and different loading conditions, on tribological properties of hybrid aluminum composite. Composite samples, Al − 0wt%B4C + 0wt%SiC (non-reinforced), Al − 2.5wt%B4C + 2.5wt%SiC, and Al-5wt%B4C + 5wt%SiC, were tested and compared for their wear properties at different loads of 10, 15, and 20 N. From the results, it was found that reinforced particles had great influence on increasing the wear properties of the composite, whereas increased loading condition showed adverse effect on the wear properties.