Corrosion behaviour of TiB2 reinforced aluminium based in situ metal matrix composites

SummaryThis paper focuses on corrosion characteristics of cast and forged aluminium 6061 based composites reinforced with TiB2 particles. Composites were synthesised by in situ technique using potassium hexafluorotitanate salt (K2TiF6) and potassium tetrafluroborate (KBF4) halide salts by stir casting route at a temperature of 850 °C. Cast aluminium alloy and its in situ composites were subjected to open die drop forging at a temperature of 500 °C. Both cast and forged alloy 6061 and in situ composites were then subjected to microstructure studies, salt spray test. Salt spray test was conducted as per ASTM B117 standard test procedure using 5% sodium chloride test solution. Result reveals that, forged alloy and its in situ composites exhibited improved corrosion resistance compared to cast ones.