Analyzing the mechanical and wear behavior of age hardening processed AZ31 magnesium composites

The usage of AZ31 magnesium alloy has been limited in tribology applications, due to low hardness and poor wear resistance. In this connection, the age-hardening process is a promising heat treatment process for enhancing mechanical strength and wear resistance. Hence, the present work aims to analyze the effect of the age-hardening process on the microstructure, mechanical and wear behavior of AZ31 Magnesium-Calcium hexaboride composites (Mg composite). Here, dry sliding wear behavior was analyzed with different loads (10, 20, and 30 N) and sliding velocity (0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 m. s-1) for a constant sliding distance of 2000m. Age hardened composites exhibited a higher hardness and compressive strength which was due to the increased volume of the secondary precipitates (Mg17Al12 and Al8Mn5). The morphology study revealed that there is an exhibition of shear bands and brittle fracture for Age hardened composites. The remarkable wear rate reduction was achieved for age hardening processed composites due to the increased load-bearing capacity induced by the presence of a high volume of secondary precipitates. Delamination wear is the dominant wear mechanism for the composites and the delaminated craters increases with increasing the load condition. Further, the elemental mapping on the collected wear debris was also used to confirm the wear mechanism.