Analysis of mechanical properties of cold extruded Al 6061 TiB2 MMCs and validated for finite element analysis

Abstract

In the present work, synthesized composite of aluminium matrix composite reinforced with 8 wt% of TiB 2 particles and the base Al6061 alloy were fabricated by stir casting method and secondary worked with cold extrusion die. The billets were prepared for the dimension of diameter 18 mm and length 90 mm. specimens were subjected to cold extrusion process with extrusion ratio of 1.2656 under laboratory condition. The mechanical properties such as Rockwell hardness tensile strength were determined as per the ASTM standard E08-16 and ASTM standard ASTM E18-15. It was found that the extruded composites revealed superior mechanical properties as compared to as-cast composites and base metal. To determine the particle distribution and its size, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and optical microscope (OM) have been carried out for microstructural study. Also, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) were studied to confirm the presence of TiB 2 particles in the fabricated samples. The experimental results were validated through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using ANSYS 14. The predicted mechanical results attained by FEA are in good agreement with the experimental results.