Effect of SiC addition on the mechanical properties and wear behavior of Al-SiC nanocomposites produced by accumulative roll bonding

Abstract

In this study, we manufactured Al and Al-SiC nanocomposites (SiC vol.% = 1, 2 and 4) using accumulative roll bonding (ARB) at room temperature. Mechanical and wear characteristic of the manufactured samples was studied. The uniform dispersion of SiC particles was achieved after five ARB cycles. The EDX mapping images reveal that the SiC reinforcement particles were homogeneously distributed into the Al matrix. After five ARB cycles, relatively small amount of nano-grains were observed in Al-SiC nanocomposite, indicating the effectiveness of the ARB process of achieving near nanostructure. It was observed that Vickers microhardness improve with increasing accumulative roll bonding cycles. Furthermore after 5 cycles, Vickers microhardness tests results showed that the highest hardness value of 66 HV is attributed to the sample containing 4 vol.% of SiC, much higher than the hardness value of the ARB-processed aluminum of 51 HV. Experimental results indicated that the wear resistance of this nanocomposite improved by increasing the number of ARB cycles due to SiC particles act as a solid lubricant.