Microstructure, mechanical and wear properties of boron carbide reinforced nickel alloy composites processed by bottom pouring type stir casting process

Abstract

This experimental investigation deals with the fabrication of boron carbide (B4C) particulates reinforced Nickel based Waspaloy (WA) composite. The bottom pouring type stir casting machine under argon atmosphere was used to prepare the composites. B4C content was reinforced with Nickel based WA in the weight basis (0, 4, 8 and 12 %). The microstructure of the prepared composites was studied by using SEM and EDS. The tensile strength, impact strength, hardness and density of the samples have been reported. Then the Pin on Disc (POD) setup was used to study the wear performance of the samples. The wear parameters were analyzed by using Grey relational analysis (GRA) for the low specific wear rate (SWR) and coefficient of friction (COF) for produced composites. The addition of B4C improved the mechanical properties of the sample up to 8% and then tends to decreases. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that, load is the most dominant parameter which affects the SWR of the composite. From the GRA, Load 20 N, sliding speed 1146 rpm, 12% B4C are found to be optimum parameters for minimum SWR and COF.