Slurry erosion is a major concern in marine components which are subjected to wear and corrosion. These problems are addressed by developing materials which are harder and possessing excellent corrosion resistance in sea water. In this regard, there are serious attempts to modify the existing surfaces or developing new composite materials which are hard and also possess good strength. There are few reports suggesting the improved slurry erosion resistance of aluminium alloy by dispersing SiC within the metallic matrix. Higher the extent of SiC in the matrix material, better will be the slurry erosion resistant. In the light of above, the present work will focus on innovative development of Al6061-SiC composites by the combined process of powder metallurgy and casting followed by hot extrusion. A maximum amount of 40 wt % of SiC has been successfully incorporated in the hot extruded composites. The hot extruded composites are subjected to slurry erosive wear test in 3.5% NaCl solution containing silica sand particles. The parameters such as slurry concentration, rotational speed used in the present study are 10-30g/l, 500 – 1000 rpm respectively with test duration maintained at 24 hr. It is observed that increased content of SiC in matrix alloy has resulted in significant improvement in the slurry erosion resistance of the developed composites.

Abstract. Currently, the focus in materials development is on processing of hybrid metal matrix composites (MMC's) in particular aluminum (Al) based owing to their flexibility in achieving tailor made properties. Till date, only processing, characterization of mechanical and adhesive wear behavior of various hybrid MMCs have received much attention. However, solid erosion wear of hybrid MMCs has not yet been reported. This assessment will further enlarge the range of applications of hybrid MMCs in particular for components in operation for military applications especially in desert areas. In the light of the above, the present paper discusses the air jet erosion behavior of developed Al6061-SiC-carbon fibre hybrid composite prepared by combination of powder metallurgy and casting process followed by hot extrusion at temperature of 550 o C using extrusion ratio of 1:4. The solid sand erodent particle size used was 312 µm while the operating pressure and velocity was maintained at 1.4 bar and 30 m/sec respectively. The adopted feed rate of the sand particles was 2.0 g/min with standoff distance being 10 mm. The sample size was 25 mm x 25 mm x 10 mm. The effect of silicon carbide (SiC), Carbon fibre (C f ), test duration and angle of impingement of the erodent on the erosion wear loss of the developed hybrid composite will be discussed at length.

The properties of fiber reinforced composites (FRP) like high strength to weight ratio, high stiffness to weight ratio, flexibility in design, ease of fabrication with economical savings as compared to metal alloys, make it an excellent choice for various range of products from building materials, sporting equipment, appliances, automotive parts, boats, canoe hulls to bodies for recreational vehicles. In this study the properties of natural fibre composite are compared with composite made of artificial fibres. The natural fibre chosen is jute fibre and the artificial fibre chosen is glass fiber. Polyester resin was the matrix used because of compatibility, cost effectiveness and easy availability. The composites were fabricated by Hand Layup technique and the number of layers of composite laminate was varied as three, four and five. The specimens were subjected to mechanical tests and Young’s Modulus, Ultimate Strength were evaluated. Modal analysis was carried out to determine the damping characteristics through damping ratio. A comparison of the two composites in terms of mechanical properties is made and the results are tabulated.

In recent years, Al6061-carbon fiber composites are gaining wide spread popularity as they find scope in certain high-tech applications such as automobile, aerospace, transport, andprocessing industries. Thesecomposites possess high strength to weight ratio, excellent wear resistance in addition to superior mechanical properties. The experimental method of determining wear phenomenon of the developed composites is an expensive as well as a tedious process.As such engineers and scientists are focusing their attention towards developing mathematical modelsfor determining wear phenomenon. The use of mathematical modeling for prediction of wear phenomenon is an evolving research area. Hence, meager information is available as regards the mathematical model to determine wear rate of composites. Mathematical modeling is slowly gaining impetus in industries in order to assess the life of sliding components and establishing the economic loss incurred due to the wear phenomenon. In the light of the above, Al6061 carbon fiber composites were prepared by liquid metallurgical route and then machined to a standard size of pin.On the pins, sliding wear test was conducted on a pin-on-disc apparatus using C-45 steel disc as per ASTM Standard. Data generated was then used in developing AdaptiveNeuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). The ANFIS logic was created using the fuzzy logic tool box of Matlab 7.10 Version. For simulating, actual working conditions used to establish the sliding wear behaviour of Al6061-xwt%Carbon fiber composites (x=5, 10) including variable parameters such as Varying load (from 10-60N in step of 10N), Sliding distance, Weight fraction (5-10%) keeping other parameters constant such as track diameter 20 mm, Speed 500rpm and Pin diameter 8 mm were used.The adopted fuzzy model employs hybrid learning techniques for updating the premise and consequent parameter. The predicted values of sliding wear rate of Al6061-xwt% carbon fiber are in close agreement with the experimental results.