Dry sliding friction and wear behavior of (TiB2 + h-BN)/2024Al composites

(TiB2 + h-BN)/2024Al and TiB2/2024Al composites were fabricated by pressure infiltration technique. The dry sliding tribological behavior of the two composites was investigated using a pin-on-disk wear tester at the room temperature in atmospheric environment. With the addition of h-BN particles, the TiB2 particles were uniformly dispersed in the 2024Al matrix, however, TiB2 particles were observed to be partially agglomerated at some zones in TiB2/2024Al composites. The results of dry sliding tests showed that the addition of h-BN could improve tribological performance significantly especially at low sliding speed and low load, which was attributed to the role of h-BN on hindering the formation of compacted layer. Under different experimental conditions, three wear regimes could be distinguished considering the tribological properties and microstructural features. The wear mechanism map was established and the dominant wear mechanisms controlling these wear regimes were also discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.