Investigation of tribological behavior of traditional and waste reinforced Al 6061 metal matrix composites

In this study, Al6061 alloy was used as matrix material, SiC and Al2O3 as traditional reinforcing elements, and tiles as waste reinforcement material were collected from tile mills and ground tiles were used. Single, double and triple hybrid composites were produced using reinforcing materials. We then used the sieve analysis to obtain powders with a powder size of 22-59μm. SiC and Al2O3 ceramics with a powder size of 22-59μm were also supplied from the market. he composites were produced using a two-stage blended casting process, which is a liquid-phase production process. In this method, the Al6061 alloy is first heated to 700ºC, then the alloy temperature is lowered to 600ºC and the alloy, which is semi-solid at this temperature, is preheated to 250ºC and added by hand. The alloy was then superheated and the temperature of the alloy was increased to 800 ºC and at this temperature 250 rpm. The alloy was mechanically mixed for 10 minutes at speed. Nitrogen gas was used as the inert gas during the mixing process and the oxygen in the environment was removed. Composites were then produced by casting metal molds with a length of 300 mm and a diameter of 30 mm. The microstructures of the composites produced were examined by scanning electron microscopy and EDS analyzes were taken. Porosity amounts were calculated with Archimedes principle and hardnesses were determined by Brinell hardness measurement method. The wear amounts of the composites produced were determined by dry friction abrasion tests using the pin-on-disk method. In this method, the slip distance is fixed to be 100 m and the bulk container quantities for different load values of 1N, 3N and 5N are measured on a precision scale with a sensitivity of 0.0001. Three specimens were produced from each sample and the porosity, hardness and abrasion tests were repeated 3 times, making the work more reliable. The specimens were subjected to a tensile test to determine the weft reinforcement ratios to be used in the study, and when the results obtained were examined, the yield stress and the maximum tensile stress at which the micro cracks occurred in the composite were observed when the weight ratio of reinforcement of the composite exceeded 11%. The decrease in the amount of unit elongation of the composite was achieved at a higher rate than the yield stress and the maximum tensile stress. This means that the hybrid composites produced do not exceed 11% by weight of reinforcement. The specimens were subjected to a tensile test to determine the weft reinforcement ratios to be used in the study, and when the results obtained were examined, the yield stress and the maximum tensile stress at which the micro cracks occurred in the composite were observed when the weight ratio of reinforcement of the composite exceeded 11%. The decrease in the amount of unit elongation of the composite was achieved at a higher rate than the yield stress and the maximum tensile stress. This means that the hybrid composites produced do not exceed 11% by weight of reinforcement. Even though the tile dust did not increase the hardness as much as SiC and Al2O3, matrise added tile increased the hardness of the dust composite. It is envisaged that the tile doubled and triple hybrid composite can be used as a reinforcing material which can be used to increase the hardness. The tile dross reinforced composite has reduced the mass loss, and as the reinforcement ratios increase, the mass loss of the composites decreases.