Microstructure and Wear Behavior of TiC/AISI 1020 Metal Matrix Composites Produced by Liquid Pressing Infiltration

A metal matrix composite was developed through a unique liquid pressing infiltration process to study the wear mechanism of a TiC reinforced AISI 1020 steel matrix. The microstructure, hardness, and wear behaviors of the TiC/AISI 1020 composite were compared with commercial AISI 52100 bearing steel. Microstructural analysis showed that there were no defects, such as pores or agglomeration of reinforcement particles, and about 60% of the volume of TiC was uniformly dispersed. In the case of the AISI 52100 alloy, the hardness was 62.42 HRC, which was similar to the 62.84 HRC value of the as-cast TiC/AISI 1020 composite. After the quenching heat treatment, the Rockwell hardness of the composite increased to 76.64 HRC, which was attributed to the martensitic transformation of the AISI 1020 matrix. As a result of the pin-on-disc wear test with high contact pressure, the wear width of AISI 52100 was 2937 μm, which was approximately 4.3 times wider than that of the heat-treated metal matrix composite (682 μm). The wear depths of AISI 52100 and the heat-treated composite were 2.6 μm and 0.5 μm, respectively, indicating that TiC/AISI 1020 exhibited excellent wear resistance compared with bearing steel. Improved wear resistance of the TiC/AISI 1020 composite originates from uniformly distributed TiC, with an increase in the hardness due to the heat treatment.