Influence of B4C content and processing conditions on wear resistance of aluminum

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of boron carbide (B4C) reinforcement on the wear behavior of aluminum alloy composites. The composites were produced using ball milling and hot extrusion techniques, with B4C content varied at 0 wt.% and 5wt.% and milling times of 1, 3 and 6 hours. Furthermore, normal loads of 1, 2 and 5 N were applied during tribological testing. Taguchi and ANOVA analyses were employed to examine the effects of B4C content, normal load and milling time on the wear properties of AA2024-based composites. ANOVA results indicated that the most significant factor affecting wear loss was B4C content (63.48%), followed by normal load (25.28%) and milling time (2.74%). For the coefficient of friction, the most significant factor was normal load (47.37%), followed with B4C content (3.12%) and milling time (2.74%). The analysis highlights that optimizing the B4C content, normal load and milling time, while considering their interactions, is crucial for improvement of tribological performance of AA2024-based composites.