A process and an equipment have been successfully used to manufacture 6061 aluminum alloy/0–6 wt.% (6 μm) graphite particulate composite material. The graphite particulates are distributed uniformly within the Al alloy matrix. The results showed that tensile properties of these composites have been reduced. However, the hardness is remaining practically unchanged. In the wear microstructure of the unreinforced alloy, we can observe the ploughing generated by the hard Al chip clusters on the wearing material. The tribological behavior of the composites in the T6 heat-treated condition is better than in the annealed condition or than that of the unreinforced alloy. The wear weight loss is reduced with increasing content of graphite particulates and sliding speed.
