Prediction of wear coefficient of Al6061-TiO2 composites

In the light of the above, the present investigation deals with preparation of Al6061-TiO2 composites by liquid metallurgy route. The extent of incorporation of TiO2 in the composite was varied from 2 to 10 wt%. Microstructure studies, hardness and wear test were conducted on the cast Al6061-TiO2 composites. Pin on disc machine was used to assess the wear resistance of the prepared composites. Load was varied from 10 to 40 N while the sliding distance was from 90 to 540 m. Wear coefficients were evaluated by using Archard's and Yang's theoretical models. Increased contents of TiO2 resulted in higher hardness and lower wear coefficient of the composites under identical test conditions. The wear coefficient of all the Al6061-TiO2 composites studied decreased at higher loads and larger sliding distances. The predicted values of the wear coefficient are in close agreement with the experimental ones.