Study of Wear Behavior of Silicon Carbide and Boron Carbide Reinforced Alumiium Alloy (Al6061) Matrix Composites

The current investigation employs Al6061 as the matrix material. Silicon carbide and Boron carbide particles are utilized as reinforcing materials. The stir casting technique is employed for the fabrication of Al6061–SiC–B4C composites. The percentage of SiC carbide particles was maintained at 3% throughout the study. The B4C particle concentration is changed from 2 to 8% in steps of 2%. A tribological test is being carried out with varying parameters of load, sliding distance, and a constant speed for the developed composites. The EDAX of the Al6061+3% SiC+6% B4C composite confirmed the presence of Al6061, SiC, and B4C components. The SEM microstructure analysis demonstrates that the reinforcing particles were distributed evenly throughout the matrix. The findings of a wear test show that the developed composites are more resistant to wear than the base material. The results show that, for a given load, an increase in sliding distance results in a greater amount of wear loss. On the surface that has been worn, the Al6061–SiC–B4C composite exhibits fewer grooves and areas that have delaminated than the Al6061 alloy. The developed Al6061–SiC–B4C composites are used in automotive components such as connecting rods, pistons, and break drums.