Sliding wear behaviour of T6 treated A356-TiB2 in-situ composites

Dry sliding wear behaviour of A356-TiB2 composites in T6 condition was tested using a pin-on-disc wear testing machine. The composites were prepared by the reaction of a mixture of K2TiF6 and KBF4 salts with molten alloy. The wear tests were conducted at normal loads of 19.6-78.4 N and a sliding speed of 1 ms(-1). A detailed SEM study of wear surface and debris was carried out to substantiate the wear results. The results indicate that wear rate of the composites is a strong function of TiB2 content rather than overall hardness of the composite. The role of Si and TiB2 particles towards the overall mechanism has been discussed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.