Effect of extrusion on properties of Al-based composite

An aluminium alloy and its composite with dispersed SiC particles made by liquid metallurgy route were extruded under optimized conditions. The properties were characterized in terms of microstructure, hardness and sliding wear behaviour and then compared between the extruded and cast alloys and composites, in order to understand the benefits of composite and extrusion on the alloy. It was observed that composites drastically increased the hardness and the extruded composites further increased this value. The advantage of composites was realized in sliding wear tests.