Characterization of the developed aluminium matrix composites-an experimental analysis (original) (raw)

Microstructure, mechanical and wear behaviour of Al7075/SiC aluminium matrix composite fabricated by stir casting

2021

Application of particulate reinforced composite is being emphasized day by day due to its modified strength, high hardness, less weight, and ductility. This paper deals with the behaviour of physical, mechanical and tribological properties of aluminium matrix composite reinforced by micro-sized silicon carbide particles (in a various quantity such as 0, 3, 6 and 9 wt.%) prepared by stir casting fabrication process. With the increase in weight percentage of SiC reinforcement, the density of composite improves from 2.76 gm/cc to 2.83 gm/cc, and the porosity of composite reduces from 1.78% to 0.56%. UTS and Hardness of SiC particle reinforced aluminium matrix composites developed from 140 MPa to 205 MPa and 66 HV to 84 HV respectively. Microstructure reveals that strong bonding develops between matrix and reinforcement in terms of strength and hardness in all the formed composites compared to its matrix material. Comparatively less wear is observed with enhancing SiC content conducted ...

Microstructural and Mechanical behaviour of Aluminium Matrix Composites reinforced with coated SiC particles fabricated by Stir Casting

Metal matrix composites are the resultant of combination of two or more elements or compounds, possessing enhanced characteristics than the individual constituents present in them. This paper deals with the fabrication of Al 2014-SiC composite and investigation of its Microstructure and Mechanical properties. 2014 Aluminium alloy is characterized by good hardness. It is selected as the base metal. The Silicon Carbide is characterized by good strength and low density (3.21 g/cm3). It is chosen as the reinforcement. Silicon Carbide is coated with Nickel by electroless method to increase its wettability and binding properties. The fabrication of metal matrix composites is done by stir casting in a furnace, by introducing the required quantities of reinforcement into molten Aluminium alloy. The reinforcement and alloy is mixed by means of stirring, with the help of a stirrer. The base alloy and the composites are then tested for mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and hardness. The fabricated samples have higher tensile strength and impact strength than the alloy. Microstructure of the samples, are analyzed using optical microscope.

Effect of SiC Reinforcement on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite

IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2018

Aluminum reinforced with silicon carbide composites areextensively used in automobile industries and aerospaceowing to their favourable microstructure and improved mechanical behaviour with respect to pure aluminium but at a lower cost. Aluminium is remarkable for the low density and its ability to resist corrosion. The aim of present study istoevaluate the mechanical and microstructural properties of aluminum with silicon carbide (average particle size 30-45μm) reinforced in varying weight percentages (wt %) ranging from 0-15 wt% in a step of 5% each. Ultimate tensile strength, micro hardness and density of the fabricated composites were investigated as a function of varying SiC wt%. Microstructure analysis was carried out on casted composites using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. From micrographs it is clear that fair distribution of reinforcing particles in the matrix and also observed some clustering and porosity in the cast material. Results revealed that, the addition of SiC reinforcement in the aluminum matrix increases the hardness and ultimate tensile strength gradually from 23 HV to 47 HV and 84 MPa to 130 MPa respectively.

Effect of SiC Reinforced Particle Parameters in the Development of Aluminium Based Metal Matrix Composite

Evergreen, 2019

This study investigates the effect of addition of SiC particles on Al 6061 alloy. The composites are prepared with varied (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8) weight percent of SiC particles through electromagnetic stir casting technique. Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) is employed to examine the microstructure of the fabricated composite and results depict that SiC content were uniformly dispersed in the Al 6061 matrix. Density of the composite is increased due to high density of SiC particles in comparison to Al 6061 alloy. Hardness and tensile tests are performed to investigate the mechanical properties of composite. The hardness and tensile strength is significantly improved up to 8 wt % of SiC particles. The novelty of this archival work lie in fact that few experiments have been carried out for Al 6061/SiC composite and some significant insight for the electromagnetic stir casting is achieved in the performed experiment.

Microstructural Investigation of Aluminium- Silicon Carbide Particulate Metal Matrix Composite Fabricated by Stir Casting

The Aluminium based Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) are generating wide interest in aerospace, automobile, space, transportation and underwater applications. This is mainly due to its superior and tailorable properties such as light weight, low density, high hardness, high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance. The present research work is related to the fabrication of Al6061/SiCp MMC by a low cost stir casting technique. The MMCs plates are prepared by varying the weight percentage of SiCp from 5% to 15%. The microstructural investigation of the resulting as-cast composite structures has been carried out using Optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (WD-XRF). The 6061 Al alloy-SiCp composite microstructure shows excellent distribution of SiCp in to 6061Al alloy matrix. Moreover, XRD analysis reveals the uniform presence of SiC particles into matrix.

Characterization of Aluminium Alloy/ SiC Metal Matrix Composites

The present research involved the conduction of hardness and compression tests of aluminium AA-2618 alloy matrix composite reinforced with white Silicon Carbide particulates. The composites were fabricated using Stir Casting technique of liquid metallurgy and machined to the required ASTM standards. The hardness tests were conducted using a Brinell hardness tester, whereas the compression tests were conducted using a Universal Testing Machine. Appropriate readings were taken during the conduction of the tests in order to be compared with each other as well as the base alloy. The results and conclusions were analyzed and compared to help determine the nature of the trends that arise due to the incremental addition of reinforcement particulates into the matrix material on the hardness and compressive behavior of the composites, in order to determine their potentiality for application in various industrial fields.

Studies on Al6061-SiC and Al7075-Al2O3 Metal Matrix Composites

The aluminum based composites are increasingly being used in the transport, aerospace, marine, automobile and mineral processing industries, owing to their improved strength, stiffness and wear resistance properties. The widely used reinforcing materials for these composites are silicon carbide, aluminum oxide and graphite in the form of particles or whiskers. The ceramic particles reinforced aluminum composites are termed as new generation material and these can be tailored and engineered with specific required properties for specific application requirements. Particle reinforced composites have a better plastic forming capability than that of the whisker or fiber reinforced ones, and thus they have emerged as most sought after material with cost advantage and they are also known for excellent heat and wear resistance applications. In this paper it is aimed to present the experimental results of the studies conducted regarding hardness, tensile strength and wear resistance properties of Al6061-SiC and Al7075-Al 2 O 3 composites. The composites are prepared using the liquid metallurgy technique, in which 2-6 wt. %'age of particulates were dispersed in the base matrix in steps of 2. The obtained cast composites of Al6061-SiC and Al7075-Al 2 O 3 and the castings of the base alloys were carefully machined to prepare the test specimens for density, hardness, mechanical, tribological tests and as well as for microstructural studies as per ASTM standards. The SiC and Al 2 O 3 resulted in improving the hardness and density of their respective composites. Further, the increased %'age of these reinforcements contributed in increased hardness and density of the composites. The microphotographs of the composites studied revealed the uniform distribution of 44 G. B. Veeresh Kumar, C. S. P. Rao, N. Selvaraj , M. S. Bhagyashekar Vol.9, No.1 the particles in the matrix system. The experimental density values were agreed with that of the theoretical density values of the composites obtained using the rule of mixture for composites. The dispersed SiC in Al6061 alloy and Al 2 O 3 in Al7075 alloy contributed in enhancing the tensile strength of the composites. The wear factor K obtained using computerized pin on disc wear tester with counter surface as EN31 steel disc (HRC60) and the composite pin as specimens, demonstrated the superior wear resistance property of the composites.

Investigation of mechanical properties of SiCp reinforced Al 7075 metal matrix composites: a case study

Materials Today: Proceedings, 2019

Al 7075 metal matrix composites (MMCs) reinforced with silicon carbide particulates (SiC p) were developed through mechanical stirring assisted solidification route, which were thermal treated under T6 condition. Homogeneous dispersion of reinforcements was observed by scanning electron microscopy. Micro-hardness, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and percentage of elongation (ductility) of the MMCs were determined both in as-cast condition and thermal treated condition. Results revealed that thermal treatment improved the mechanical properties except ductility. Influence of wt.% of reinforcements and their mean particle size on the mechanical properties of the MMCs was also investigated.

Development of Aluminium Based Silicon Carbide Particulate Metal Matrix Composite

Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) have evoked a keen interest in recent times for potential applications in aerospace and automotive industries owing to their superior strength to weight ratio and high temperature resistance. The widespread adoption of particulate metal matrix composites for engineering applications has been hindered by the high cost of producing components. Although several technical challenges exist with casting technology yet it can be used to overcome this problem. Achieving a uniform distribution of reinforcement within the matrix is one such challenge, which affects directly on the properties and quality of composite material. In the present study a modest attempt has been made to develop aluminium based silicon carbide particulate MMCs with an objective to develop a conventional low cost method of producing MMCs and to obtain homogenous dispersion of ceramic material. To achieve these objectives two step-mixing method of stir casting technique has been adopted and subsequent property analysis has been made. Aluminium (98.41% C.P) and SiC (320-grit) has been chosen as matrix and reinforcement material respectively. Experiments have been conducted by varying weight fraction of SiC (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%), while keeping all other parameters constant. The results indicated that the 'developed method' is quite successful to obtain uniform dispersion of reinforcement in the matrix. An increasing trend of hardness and impact strength with increase in weight percentage of SiC has been observed. The best results (maximum hardness 45.5 BHN & maximum impact strength of 36 N-m.) have been obtained at 25% weight fraction of SiC. The results were further justified by comparing with other investigators.

Silicon Carbide Effect as Reinforcement on Aluminium Metal Matrix Composite

2019

In the present study aluminium silicon carbide (Al/SiC) composites were prepared by powder metallurgical method. The mechanical and morphological evaluation were studied upon the variation of reinforcements percentages i.e.10, 15 and 20 wt.% of SiC powder were used as the reinforcements in aluminium matrix. The comparison of powder metallurgy method with stir casting method of Al/ (SiC) composites preparation was performed and the particle reinforcements were visualized through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results demonstrated increased hardness with increasing wt. % of SiC particles. This was attributed to efficient stress transfer and dislocation strengthening. In addition, the densification behaviour of the composites was also studied and SiC particulates were found to exhibit profound effect on composites density.