A STUDY ON WEAR AND MICROSTRUCTURE PROPERTIES OF AA7075 REINFORCED WITH SIC MMC BY STIR CASTING TECHNIQUE

Metal matrix composites of aluminum alloy reinforced with nano silicon carbide reinforcement are useful in highly stressed parts of an aircraft, automobile and many industrial sectors because of their higher strength, good resistance to fatigue and corrosion. AA7075 reinforced with many particulates in developing various MMC's have been revealed significant wear resistance of MMC's research work. In this work, AA7075 metal matrix is chosen and it is reinforced with 500nm(0.5micron) silicon carbide powder as a reinforcement. The MMC's samples have been prepared by low cost stir cast method. The silicon carbide was increased incrementally from 2% to 8% wt. fractions. Wear behavior of these specimens were observed using Pin and Disc experimental setup and the results shows improved wear resistance as the percentage of the reinforcement material increased. This work also contains EDX analysis of tested samples and from the EDX analysis it is ensured that along with major compositions of metal matrix are combined with the reinforced material.