Mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of SiC reinforced high entropy alloy (Ni-Co-Fe-Ti) matrix composites produced by microwave and conventional sintering techniques

Abstract The aim of this work is to synthesize SiC reinforced Ni-Co-Fe-Ti composite using powder metallurgy (PM) method. Two sintering methods, conventional sintering (CS) using a tubular furnace and microwave sintering (MWS), are employed to synthesize three different weight percentages of SiC (3 wt%, 6 wt%, and 9 wt%) within a Ni-Co-Fe-Ti matrix. The densification behavior of synthesized Ni-Co-Fe-Ti-SiC composites are studied using sinterability function. The highest sinterability of 0.89 was achieved for Ni-Co-Fe-Ti-0 wt.wt% SiC alloy. The densification rate was found to be higher in MW sintered composites compared to those sintered conventionally. 3.5 wt% NaCl solution was considered for corrosion examination and it was determined that Ni-Co-Fe-Ti- 9 wt% SiC MW sintered composite exhibit highest corrosion resistance. Ni-Co-Fe-Ti-9 wt% SiC MW sintered composite exhibits higher compressive strength of 1050 MPa than conventional sintered Ni-Co-Fe-Ti-9 wt% SiC (625 MPa). Ni-Co-Fe-Ti-6 wt% SiC MW sintered composite possess highest hardness of 58 HRC among other prepared composites. Interestingly, decreasing trend in hardness was observed for further inclusion of SiC with Ni-Co-Ti-Fe matrix. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and microstructural characterization technique shows the formation of pores in the conventional sintered composites. But, there is no formation of pores in the MW sintered composite of all the composition. Tribological studies were conducted using pin on disc method. Worn surface morphology was analyzed and it shows that severe pullout was observed in the worn surface of conventional sintered Ni-Co-Fe-Ti- 6 wt%SiC.The best optimum set of parameters (Sliding Speed 1146 rpm, SiC inclusion 6 wt%, Applied Load 20 N) were found out using Taguchi method.