A STUDY ON PROCESS AND TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF AL-ALLOY GR.(P) COMPOSITE

A process and an equipment have been successfully used to manufacture 6061 aluminum alloy/0-6 wt.% (6 mu m) graphite particulate composite m aterial. The graphite particulates are distributed uniformly within th e Al alloy matrix. The results showed that tensile properties of these composites have been reduced. However, the hardness is remaining prac tically unchanged. In the wear microstructure of the unreinforced allo y, we can observe the ploughing generated by the hard Al chip clusters on the wearing material. The tribological behavior of the composites in the T6 heat-treated condition is better than in the annealed condit ion or than that of the unreinforced alloy. The wear weight loss is re duced with increasing content of graphite particulates and sliding spe ed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.