| Summary: | Aluminium based composite or well known as Aluminium Matrix Composites (AMC) can be improved in terms of mechanical properties with heat treatment. The quenching process parameters such as cooling rate, cooling agent and cooling temperature are predicted to affect the mechanical properties of the AMC. This study presents the results of a series of laboratory experiment to observe hardness ability of the Al6061–Al2O3 composites subjected to quenching agent and particle surface treatment. There are 3 variations of quenching agent and 2 types of reinforcement particle treatment. The quenching agent using water, oil, salt solution (brine), and 0% and 10% weight fraction of Al2O3 reinforcement. The hardness testing is conducted to the Rockwell B scale according to regulation of ASTM E−18. Obtained results indicated that the biggest distortion occurred as influences of quenching brine agent on each variation. The hardness of the 10E specimens (with treatment of Electroless Coating) is higher than the 10 N specimens (with treatment of Non-Electroless Coating). Based on this finding, it can be concluded that quenching agent and electroless coating treatment explicitly affected the hardness of Al6061–Al2O3 composites. Keywords: Metal matrix composite, Aluminium 6061, Quenching, Microstructure, Hardness
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