Characterization, wear surface roughness and tensile failure analysis of Al7075-TiC-MoS2 hybrid composites using online acoustic emission

In this paper Al7075-TiC-MoS2 hybrid composites were prepared through stir-casting process and their microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties are analyzed. Aluminium 7075 was selected as matrix and reinforced with harder TiC to improve the mechanical strength and softer MoS2 to enhance the resistance to wear. The prepared samples were tested for their hardness, microstructure, XRD analysis, tensile strength through acoustic emission and wear surface roughness behaviour. All prepared composites exhibited an improvement in hardness; tensile strength and wear resistance through acoustic emission were investigated. It was observed that reinforcement was uniformly distributed across the matrix material which was attributed through continuous stirring. The surface morphology analysed through micro structural analysis revealed that the reinforcement was uniformly distributed in the matrix. The wear resistance was significantly improved with the MoS2 addition which acted as a lubricant in-between the sliding surfaces. Thus it is concluded that the hybrid composites exhibits good tensile strength, hardness and wear resistance properties. An Acoustic emission system was employed in all the tests to monitor the acoustic energy release during the whole deformation process and some useful conclusions were drawn.