Slurry erosive wear and microhardness characteristics with coarse silica sand of dual reinforced particles ADC12 alloy composites

The current research was a comparative study of reinforced ceramic particles and mixing proportion on the microstructural and slurry erosive characteristics for fabricated composites. Dual reinforced particle composites were fabricated by adding combinations of numerous wt% of titanium carbide (TiC) and zircon sand (ZrSiO4) to aluminium die-casting (ADC12) alloy matrix composites. ADC12 alloy composite with titanium carbide and zircon sand samples were also prepared for comparison of dual reinforcement particles on microstructural features and wear behaviour in various slurry concentrations. Titanium carbide (44–60 µm) and zircon sand (20–33 µm) particles are reinforced in the alloy by the two-step stir-casting method. Slurry erosion wear study reveals that the dual particle reinforcement enhances the wear resistance as compared to single-particle reinforcement if mixed in a definite proportion. The study also indicates that a combination of 15% reinforcement of titanium carbide and zircon sand particles in the ratio of 10 and 5 wt% into the composite exhibits better microhardness and wear resistance as compared to other combination.