DIYALA JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES

Abstract

Aluminum matrix composite is most important materials used in various industries because of its good properties such as wear resistance, low density, and high resistance to weight ratio. In this paper, Metal matrix composites (MMCs) of the base alloy (Al-6061) and (Al-5086) reinforced by silica particles (SiO2) (1.5, 3, and 4.5 wt%) with particles size (150 µm) was prepared by stir casting using vortex technique, silica particles (SiO2) are added to the molten and then stirred the melt by electrical mixer stir to work the vortex and then pour the mixture molten into cylindrical mold and then was cutting and preparation of samples for examination and testing of wear, hardness, density and study the microstructure of the samples and the comparison between them.
Results show from this study that the wear resistance of Al matrix composite its improvement due to addition of silica particles (SiO2) as compared with basis alloys, (Al-5086) matrix composite has higher wear resistance rather than (Al-6061) matrix composite. The higher wear resistance at added the 4.5 wt.% of silica (SiO2). The addition of silica particles in proportions above has contributed to the improvement of hardness which is reflected in improved wear resistance, and that this improvement in properties increases with the proportion of silica particles added to alloys base. As for the properties of density, decreases the density of Al-matrix composites as compared with base alloys with low proportion when added the silica particles (SiO2).