SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ALUMINUM BASED HYBRID COMPOSITES FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

Scratches, indentation and sliding wear is a serious problem when materials are exposed to static or moving components of automotives, hence selecting a suitable material with high hardness, strength and high wear resistance is vital in numerous engineering applications. The objective of the present work is the synthesis and investigations on the physical and mechanical properties of the aluminum-based composites. Distinct combination of aluminum-based composites were synthesized by powder metallurgy
technique, viz, (i) (Al-SiCμ) composites, (ii) (Al7075-TiCμ-TiCn) bimodal composites, (iii) (Al7075-TiC(μ+n) - GNP) hybrid composites. In the first investigations, Al composites reinforced with x wt.% SiC (x = 5, 7.5 and 10) microparticles were synthesized. The hardness and density of the Al/SiC composites were found to be improved by increasing SiC content, and the composite with 7.5% SiC revealed higher
density and microhardness. In the second study, Al alloy Al7075 based bimodal hybrid composites reinforced with TiC micro and nano particles were synthesized. The reinforcement content and process parameters were optimized using RSM based ANOVA analysis.