Analysis of the stir casting parameters of AI 6000 series composites using TOPSIS method

Abstract

This research focuses on the impact of stir casting variables namely, Stir speed, Melt temperature, Percent of reinforcement and Stir time on two characteristics namely Ultimate tensile strength and wear rate of Al 6063/TiB2/Al2O3 hybrid composites using Taguchi method. It also aims at developing a multi-response optimization technique using Taguchi based TOPSIS. Through the experiments, it was found that the highest and the lowest value of ultimate tensile strength (UTS) was in experiment 3 and 14 respectively. Likewise, the maximum and minimum wear rate (WTR) were noted down in the experiments 15 and 7, respectively. By using the TOPSIS method, the optimal solution for both UTS and WTR was identified to be the SD2 ‘ME3 PT4 SE1 set at 500 rpm, 800°C, 8 wt%, and 5 minutes. When the experiment was performed under these optimal conditions the tensile strength recorded were measured to be 229 MPa and wear rate of 0. 00272 mm3/Nm.