Models for predicting high-temperature hardness and wear rate responses of 6061-Al/boron carbide composite

For the purpose of improving the high-temperature performance of Al 6061 in terms of hardness and wear, boron carbide (B4C) was added to Al 6061 at 5, 10, and 15 wt. % and the developed composite was tested for hardness and wear rate at temperatures of 250, 350, and 450 °C. This study focused on the experimental observation and modelling of the experimental data. It was observed that increase in temperature resulted in decrease in hardness with a corresponding increase in wear volume. Meanwhile, increasing dosage of the particle led to improvement in hardness and wear resistance. The result showed that optimum temperature exposure of the composite is ≤ 250 °C with dosage of B4C not > 10 wt. %. The developed predictive models were determined to possess good fitness with the experimental data, hence capable for predicting the hardness and wear rate.