The growth kinetics of the zinc coating formed on the surface of casting made from ductile iron grade EN-GJS-500-3 was investigated. To produce homogenous metal matrix in test samples, the normalising and ferritising annealing was carried out. Studies showed a heterogeneous structure of cast iron with varying content of the phases formed. This was followed by hot dip galvanising treatment at 450°C to capture the growth kinetics of the zinc coating (the time of the treatment ranged from 60 to 600 seconds). Nonlinear estimation of the determined growth kinetics of the alloyed layer of a zinc coating was made and an equation of the zinc coating growth was derived. Based on the results of the investigations it was concluded that thickness of the zinc coating formed on the surface of casting with a 100% pearlitic matrix makes 55% of the thickness of coating formed on the surface in 100% ferritic.
Copper have always been an important material and incorporation of elements into copper for property enhancement. Bronze is a relevant cuprous alloy which is important for many industrial and automotive applications like bearings and machineries. The present research is directed towards the fabrication and tribological analysis of regular bronze (Cu-6Sn) and metal matrix composites reinforced with varying particle sized SiC ceramic reinforcement (30, 35 and 40 μm). The developed specimens were subjected to wear analysis according to ASTM standards, to identify the tribological properties utilizing a pin on disk tribometer. It was noted that the wear rates of developed MMC’s phenomenally decremented with an increase in size of SiC particle reinforcement. Also, the test parameters were influential in altering the wear rates to notable margins. The standard scanning electron microscopy techniques aided in identifying the influence of adhesive wear on the specimen surface.
The main aim of this work was to obtain a copper matrix surface composite using friction stir processing (FSP). The reinforced phase was SiC particles with an average size of 5 mm. The effect of the reinforcement on the microstructure, hardness and wear behaviour were analysed. The friction treatment was carried out using a truncated cone-shaped tool with a threaded side surface. Multi-chamber technology was used to produce the composite microstructure in the copper surface layer. Changes in the material microstructure were assessed by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Comparative measurement of the hardness of the initial and treated material as well as wear resistance tests were also carried out. A favourable effect of the surface treatment on the microstructure and properties of the copper was found. As a result of the friction treatment there was strong grain refinement in the copper surface layer. The average grain size in the stirring zone was about 3 mm and was over 21 times smaller than the average grain size in the initial material. Intensive dispersion of the SiC particles in the modified layer was also found, leading to the formation of a copper matrix composite. The effect of microstructural changes in the surface layer of the material and formation of the surface composite was an over two-fold increase in the hardness of the material and an increase in wear resistance.
This paper presents the results of studies concerning the production and characterization of Al-SiC/W and Cu-SiC/W composite materials with a 30% volume fraction of reinforcing phase particles as well as the influence of corrosion and thermal shocks on the properties of selected metal matrix composites. Spark plasma sintering method (SPS) was applied for the purpose of producing these materials. In order to avoid the decomposition of SiC surface, SiC powder was coated with a thin tungsten layer using plasma vapour deposition (PVD) method. The obtained results were analysed by the effect of the corrosion and thermal shocks on materials density, hardness, bending strength, tribological and thermal properties. Qualitative X-ray analysis and observation of microstructure of sample surfaces after corrosion tests and thermal shocks were also conducted. The use of PVD technique allows us to obtain an evenly distributed layer of titanium with a constant thickness of 1.5 µm. It was found that adverse environmental conditions and increased temperature result in a change in the material behaviour in wear tests.
Metal matrix composites (MMC) are finding application in many fields such as aerospace and automobile industries. This is due to their advantages such as light weight and low cost. Among all the available non-traditional machining processes, wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) is found to be a suitable method for producing complex or intricate shapes in composite materials. In this study, an aluminum metal matrix composite (AMMC) with 6% and 8% weight (wt) fraction of Al2O3 is prepared through the stir casting process. The fabricated AMMC specimen is machined using WEDM, considering various process parameters such as wt % of reinforcement, gap voltage (Vg), peak current (IP) wire tension (WT) and dielectric pressure (Pd). Output responses such as the machining rate (MR) and surface roughness (Ra) of the slots are analyzed by conducting L18 mixed orthogonal array (OA) experiments. The experiments are analyzed using techniques for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Based on the analyses, the optimum combination of process parameters for better MR and Ra is as follows: wt % = 6 gm, Vg = 53 V, Ip = 8 A, WT = 11 g, Pd = 13 bar. The optimum level of process parameters for MR and Ra are 1.5 mm/min and 3.648 µm, respectively. Based on ANOVA, the peak current is found to have a significant influence on MR and Ra. Moreover, based on a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image, the presence of micro-ridges, reinforcement, micro-craters, micro-cracks, recast layers and oxide formation are all analyzed on the surface being machined.
The influence of boron carbide and tungsten carbide on the apparent porosity, density, coercive force, hardness and microstructure of metal matrix composite of the Ferro-TiC type, is presented in this paper. The samples of investigated steel/titanium carbide composite were produced by powder metallurgy process, i.e. by powders mixing and compacting followed by sintering in the vacuum furnace. According to the results, steel/titanium carbide composite materials with addition up to 11.9 vol.% of boron carbide are interesting to detailed investigation as well as materials having more than 17.2 vol.% of tungsten carbide because these compositions show significant changes in hardness and coercive force values.