Effect of graphite addition on mechanical behavior of Al6061/TiB2 hybrid composite using acoustic emission

The present work includes the effect of addition of graphite for improving the properties of Al6061-TiB2 composite using the high-energy stir casting method. The characterization was performed with X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectrum and scanning electron microscope. The thermal and mechanical behaviors such as thermo gravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis, hardness, tensile strength using acoustic emission and fatigue behaviors were investigated. The composite of composition Al6061-20% TiB2 with 2% graphite shows the greatest improvement in mechanical behavior. An Acoustic Emission system was employed in all the tests to monitor the acoustic energy release during the whole deformation process and some useful conclusions were drawn. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.