Abstract
Aluminum alloys are being employed in automobile parts as strive to reduce overall vehicle weight to meet demands for improved fuel economy and reduction in vehicle emissions. Al-based composites reinforced with ceramic ($Al_2O_3,\;SiC,\;TiC\;and\;B_4C$) applications in a variety of components in automotive engines, such as liners, where the tribological properties of the material are important. In this study, Al-base composites reinforced with TiC particle powders has been developed for producing plasma spray coatings. The composite plasma spray powders were prepared Al-13Si-3Mg(wt%) alloy with TiC(40, 60 and 80wt%) particles ($0.2~5{\mu}textrm{m}$) by drum type ball milling. The composite powders ($36~76{\mu}textrm{m}$) were sprayed with plasma torch. Plasma sprayed coatings were heat-treated at $500^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours. The wear resistances of the plasma sprayed coatings were found to decrease with increasing TiC content and improved with heat treatment. AlSiMg-40% TiC heat-treated coatings were showed the best wear resistance in this study.