The influence of heat treatment on the dry sliding wear beha viour of saffil-reinforced AA6061 composites

摘要

The steady-state wear of elemental aluminium alloy AA6061 and AA6061 based Saffil fibre-reinforced composites, manufactured by a PM route, was investigated with a pin-on-disc configuration under dry sliding conditions. For both the monolithic alloy and the MMC, a better dry sliding wear resistance was found in the peak-aged condition than after over-ageing, except for the lowest load, where the alloy shows an insignificant difference. Scanning electron microscopy suggested that the controlling wear mechanism for all the specimens was load dependent. With the improvement in the flow stress of the alloy matrix, the wear resistance of the MMC was found to be better in the peak-aged than the over-aged condition, as the tendency for the fracture of Saffil fibres was reduced and resulted in a decrease in the delamination rate.