Aluminum Composites for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Fabrication, Microstructural and Mechanical Characterization
摘要
The role of composite material has become highly significant in both electric and hybrid vehicles, and one of the chief tasks is to minimize the weight of the automobile without compromising the build quality and also reducing the consumption of energy to the largest possible extent. Material with optimum mechanical properties like strength-to-weight ratio is considered to be the best option for the fabrication and design of lightweight components for automobiles. The present work focuses on the fabrication, microstructural and mechanical characterization of Al 6063-based composite which can be employed for components such as rim, motor housings and battery housings. In this study, Al6063/SiC/TiO2 composites were fabricated using the stir casting. Hybrid composite samples with varying weight percentages 3, 6, 9 and 12 of (SiC + TiO2) mixture were investigated. SEM and X-ray diffraction patterns were employed to examine the microstructure of the composites. The inclusion of SiC and TiO2 particles improved the grain size, hardness and tensile strength of base alloy, and the sample having 9% reinforcement showed optimum mechanical and physical properties. Pin on disk apparatus was employed to figure out the wear behavior of the hybrid composites. The investigation was conducted under varying load, sliding distance and sliding speed. It was observed that wear in the composites escalates with the increase of load and sliding distance whereas wear declined with the increase of sliding speed. The results revealed that hybrid composite possesses better hardness, tensile strength and wear resistance which makes it a suitable material in automotive sector.