Sliding wear behaviour of T6 treated A356-TiB<inf>2</inf> 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. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.