Development of an Extrusion Process to Ameliorate the Tribological Properties of Heat Treated Al Mg Si (Cu) System Alloys Matrix Composites in Consolidated State

The developments of AA6061 aluminum matrix composites are of great interest in industrial applications for lighter materials with high specific strength, stiffness and wear resistance. In this article, the dry wear behavior of AA6061 matrix composites was investigated under different sliding speeds and applied loads. It is observed that the composites exhibit higher friction coefficients and greater wear resistances than the Al alloy against the steel disc surface. Low-speed wear rates are associated with abrasive wear,indicating the dominant wear mechanism, though minor, delamination wear may be produced. Abrasive wear associates with the formation of deep scratches on the worn surface in the sliding direction. For a given load and sliding velocity the extent of iron transfer is highest in case of 15 % SiC reinforced Al6061 composite among all the material studied.