Extrusion Process Influencing Mechanical, Tribological Properties of Aluminum Beryl Composites

Aluminum (Al) alloys are used in aerospace, automobile fields because of their light weight and possessing useful mechanical properties. In this study, Al 2024 has been chosen as the matrix material. For the reinforcement, the inclusion of Beryl particles has shown encouraging property changes. Beryl in Al is known to reduce the wear rate and Coefficient of Friction (CoF), while simultaneously enhancing the mechanical strength. Besides, further changes in specific mechanical properties are possible by adoption of secondary processes like rolling, forging and extrusion. For the present work, extrusion of Aluminum Metal Matrix composites has been chosen for study. Al 2024 system containing 0 & 6 wt% of Beryl particles, prepared by stir casting (Vortex Method) route are subjected to cold extrusion process using EN 24 die at a pressure of 10 bar applied at the rate 5 mm/min. The extruded sample has the final dimensions of 10 mm diameter and 150–180 mm length. The physical (density, porosity), mechanical (strength, hardness, elongation), tribological (slide wear & CoF) and other supporting parameters like roughness and microstructure (grain size etc.) are assessed. The results show that the extruded Al-Beryl samples display higher tensile strength, lower slide wear losses, decrease in coefficient of friction compared to as cast samples. The tensile and wear damage features, recorded using Scanning Electron Microscope, have been used to interpret the changes observed in the processed alloy vis-à-vis the as cast ones.