Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

In the present work, one batch of prealloyed 6061Al powder was processed by mixing and another one was ball milled with varying amount of lead content (0-15 vol. %). These powders were compacted at 300MPa and sintered at 590˚C under N₂. The instrumented hardness and the young’s modulus of as-sintered 6061Al-Pb alloys were examined as a function of lead content and processing route. The wear test under dry sliding condition has been performed at varying loads (10-40 N) using pin-on-disc tribometer. The microstructure and worn surfaces have been investigated using SEM to evaluate the change in topographical features due to mechanical alloying and lead content. The mechanically alloyed materials showed improved wear characteristics as compared to as-mixed counterpart alloys. Delamination of 6061Al-Pb alloys decreases up to an optimum lead composition in both as-mixed and ball-milled 6061Al-Pb alloys. The results indicated minimum wear rate for as-mixed and ball-milled 6061Al alloy at 5 and 10 vol. % Pb, respectively.