Surface Chemistry and Tribological Performance of Al–SiC–TiO₂ Composites under Cryogenic Conditions

The increasing demand for materials with enhanced strength, wear resistance, and thermal stability drives the development of hybrid metal matrix composites.This study investigates the tribological behavior of Al6061 reinforced with SiC and TiO particles, fabricated using the stir casting technique, under both cryogenic and non-cryogenic conditions.A Taguchi L9 orthogonal array was employed to optimize key parameters, including reinforcement content, applied load, and sliding distance.Results revealed that increasing the weight percentage of SiC and TiO significantly reduced wear loss, with cryogenic-treated composites exhibiting superior wear resistance compared to untreated ones.The optimum wear resistance was achieved at 7.5% SiC, 7.5% TiO, 5 N load, and 600 m sliding distance.This study addresses the research gap concerning the combined effect of SiC-TiO reinforcements under cryogenic conditions and highlights the role of cryogenic treatment in enhancing composite performance.Future work will explore other reinforcement combinations and the long-term durability of these composites under dynamic loading conditions.