Synthesis and Investigation of Microstructure, Mechanical and Tribological Characteristics of AA6063-TiC-ZrO2 Hybrid Nano Composites
摘要
AA6063 alloy’s exceptional qualities, such as its low density, high plasticity, and ductility, lead to its widespread application in the automobile and aerospace industries. The current work focuses primarily on research into the microstructure, mechanical and tribological characteristics of AA6063 alloy reinforced with Titanium Carbide (TiC) and Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) nano powders. In this work, Four casts with varying percentages of TiC and ZrO2 nano powders (1%,2%,3%,4% weight percentages for both TiC and ZrO2 individually) were fabricated by utilizing the Ultra-Sonic-Assisted Stir casting technique. The mechanical properties of the produced samples were examined by performing tension test, compression test, micro hardness test and the tribological properties were examined by conducting corrosion test, wear test. SEM and EDAX analysis was performed on the prepared specimens to understand the morphological features of the prepared composites. From the results, It was observed that AA6063-3% TiC-3%ZrO2 composite exhibited high tensile strength, high hardness, high wear resistance, excellent corrosion resistance, high compressive strength when compared with other three composites. Morphological findings of these composites reveal that 2% and 4% composites have coarse grain structure and 1% and 3% composites have fine grain structure. Micro structural findings of these composites reveal good interfacial bonding of TiC and ZrO2 with AA6063 alloy. The results of this work suggest that the prepared composite(i.e.AA6063 + 3%TiC + 3%ZrO2) is best suitable for the use in industries like automobile and aerospace where there is a requirement of excellent wear and corrosion resistance along with high strength.
Graphical Abstract