Effect of TiC Content on Friction and Wear Behavior of Al-TiC Composites

The Al-TiC composites containing three different volume fractions 0.07, 0.12 and 0.18 of TiC have been fabricated and wear characteristics of Al-TiC composites have been investigated under dry sliding. Dry sliding wear tests have been carried out using a pin-on-disk wear tester at normal loads of 9.8, 14.7, 19.6 and 24.5 N and at a constant sliding velocity of 1.0 m/s. The wear rate has been found to vary linearly following Archard’s law. The wear rate is significantly lower in composites as compared to that in base material. The wear mechanism appears to be primarily oxidative under the test conditions taken in the present investigation. Average coefficient of friction also decreases linearly with increasing normal load and volume fraction of TiC.