A review of microstructure, mechanical properties and wear behavior of hybrid aluminium matrix composites fabricated via stir casting route

Abstract

This article focuses on the mechanical and wear properties of the Al-based hybrid composites fabricated by stir casting route. A wide range of literature has been consulted in this regard and it has been revealed that processing conditions can be tailored to obtain homogeneous structure of the Al-composites. The addition of ceramic particles has been found to be essential to provide requisite strength and hardness to these composites. Also, use of agro/industrial waste materials such as fly ash, red mud and rice husk ash as a complementary reinforcement reduces the density of the hybrid composites without compromising the mechanical properties. The literature review also indicates that addition of soft reinforcements along with hard reinforcements reduces the brittleness of the hybrid composites. Moreover, the presence of solid lubricants like graphite significantly improves the wear resistance of these materials. It has been noticed that incorporation of solid lubricants also helps in the formation of a protective tribolayer at the interface thereby reducing the wear rate and plastic deformation of these composites. In overall, study concludes that Al-based hybrid composites have great promise to serve as a substitute to the ceramic reinforced composites and the unreinforced Al-alloys in various automotive applications requiring low cost, high strength-to-weight ratio and superior wear resistance.