Investigation on corrosion and wear properties of Al-7075/TiC composites fabricated by stir casting route

Abstract

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) play a crucial role in the aerospace, automotive and mineral processing industries. The properties of aluminum matrix composites (AMC) that are renowned for their high strength, good stiffness and excellent thermal conductivity can be enhanced by incorporating various reinforcements. In this investigation, Al7075 alloy with TiC (3, 6, and 9 wt.%) reinforcements was processed via stir casting. Optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were utilized to study the microstructural changes. The chemical composition and phases were analyzed using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. Evaluations were conducted on properties such as hardness, tensile strength, corrosion and wear behavior. On increasing the wt.% of TiC from 3 to 9 wt.%, it was observed that the hardness increased by 11%, the tensile strength increased by 200%, and the wear rate decreased by 50%. The composite containing 9 wt.% TiC had the lowest corrosion resistance.