Microhardness Optimization of Al–TiC Nanocomposite Produced by Mechanical Milling and Heat Treatment

In this study, the Al–TiC nanocomposite was produced by the mechanical milling and sintering process. Also, the optimization of the milling parameters was performed by the Taguchi method. The X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and microhardness test were used to analyze the phase characterization, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the Al–4% TiC nanocomposite. At first, the milling speed, milling time, and ball to powder weight ratio were considered as the input data, and the microhardness was considered as the output value of the Minitab software. According to the design of the experiment, 27 experiments must be performed, which were reduced to 9 by the Taguchi method. After the milling, the powders were subjected to the cold pressing and subsequent sintering at 450 °C. The microhardness results showed that the Al–4% TiC nanocomposite was formed with a maximum microhardness of 271 HV. Furthermore, a proper model was proposed and the results indicated that there was a good agreement between the experimental and predicted microhardness.