Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 2012, 11, 695-703 Published Online July 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jmmce) Some Studies on Wear and Corrosion Properties of Al5083/Al 2 O 3 /Graphite Hybrid Composites V. N. Gaitonde 1* , S. R. Karnik 2 , M. S. Jayaprakash 1 1 Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, B. V. B. College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli, India 2 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, B. V. B. College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli, India Email: * gaitondevn@yahoo.co.in, karniksr@yahoo.com, jp_deepak1204@yahoo.co.in Received March 14, 2012; revised April 28, 2012; accepted May 17, 2012 ABSTRACT Advanced technology has put an increasing demand on the composite materials, particularly more in the areas of dy- namic structures. Among the several types of aluminum alloys being used, Al5000 series are widely used in marine and aerospace applications due to their superior corrosion resistance, excellent formability and good welding characteristics. Al5083, a non-heat treatable high Mg-Al wrought alloy, is extensively used for the marine applications. Hence, an at- tempt has been made in the proposed work to study the effects of Graphite (Gr) and Aluminium oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) on alu- minum hybrid composites involving both hard and soft reinforcements on wear and corrosion properties. The synthesis of hybrid metal matrix composite used in the present study has been carried out by stir casting method. The effects of reinforcement, time duration and particle size on prepared samples of composites have been studied on slurry erosive wear. The static and accelerated corrosion tests have been performed and the microhardness of the developed compos- ites was also investigated. The experimental results on Al5083-Al 2 O 3 -Gr hybrid composites revealed that the addition of reinforcement improves the hardness and reduces corrosion and wear rates. Keywords: Al5083-Al 2 O 3 -Gr Hybrid Composites; Microhardness; Slurry Erosive Wear; Corrosion 1. Introduction Aluminum based metal matrix composites (AMCs) are of lightweight high performance material systems. Among the several types of aluminum alloys being used, Al5000 series are extensively used in marine and aerospace ap- plications because of their superior corrosion resistance, excellent formability and good welding characteristics. Al5000 series are broadly used for the construction of ship buildings/structures; however due to low strength and poor wear resistance the application of this series is limited. The addition of reinforcement to aluminum ma- trix drastically alters mechanical, tribological and corro- sion properties. The reinforcement in AMCs could be in the form of continuous/discontinuous fibers, whiskers or particulates. The hybrid composites have been prepared by incorporating different types of fibers into a single matrix. Due to two or more fibers in the hybrid compos- ite, the advantages of one type of fiber could complement with what are lacking in the other. The properties of hy- brid composite primarily depend upon fiber content, length of individual fibers, orientation, extent of inter- mingling of fibers, fiber to matrix bonding and arrange- ment of the fibers. Several authors have reported on slurry erosive wear and corrosion behavior of metal matrix composites. The slurry erosion can be defined as a type of wear or loss of material experienced by a component, when exposed to high velocity stream of slurry mixture of solid particles in a liquid [1], which is a serious problem in many engi- neering applications. When the components are entrained in such environments, the design life of the component is significantly reduced, resulting in huge economic losses. The areas in which components suffering from this prob- lem include, mining machinery components, hydraulic transport of solids in pipelines, marine, oil gas and power generation industries [2-5]. Caron et al. [6] studied the slurry erosive wear behave- ior of 5083-Al 2 O 3 composites and found that slurry ero- sive wear of composites increases with increase in alu- minium oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) content in the matrix material. Ramachandra and Radhakrishna [7] reported that the slurry erosive wear resistance increases with increased silicon carbide (SiC) content in Al/SiC composites. It was observed that the formation of passive layers on sur- * Corresponding author. Copyright © 2012 SciRes. JMMCE