Synthesis and property evaluation of TiC coatings on aluminium 6113 alloy by tungsten inert gas cladding

In recent times, Al 6113 alloy conquered significant demand in the automotive and aircraft industries attributed to its high specific strength and corrosion resistance. However, the extended applications of these alloys are restricted under demanding structural and tribological applications owing to its poor surface properties. Therefore, surface modification techniques are required to enhance their properties and broaden its areas of application. In this work, hard TiC powder particles deposited on Al 6113 alloy substrate through tungsten inert gas (TIG) cladding process by varying the TIG processing current. The morphology of the produced coating under varying current conditions evaluated using scanning electron microcopy images and the various elements present in the developed coating has been investigated by Energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis. Further, the microhardness measurements were carried out using Vickers micro-indentation hardness tester. The average micro-hardness of the coating varies with in the range of 235–290 HV0.05 which is 2.5–3 times higher than the uncoated Al 6113 alloy substrate (95–120 HV0.05). The developed TiC coating exhibited a fracture toughness approximately 7–8 MPa·m1/2, which is comparable to that of the existing hard and wear resistant coatings. The wear test results revealed that the input current significantly influences the wear resistance of the developed TiC coating.