Creep and thermal behavior of quarry dust-silicon carbide hybrid particles reinforced ZA-27 alloy composites using stir casting technique

Abstract

In this research, creep and thermal behavior of stir cast ZA-27 alloy-based hybrid composites modified with quarry dust (QD) and silicon carbide (SiCp) particles was investigated. ZA-27 hybrid composite samples reinforced with 10 wt% QD-SiCp particles containing varied weight percentage 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% quarry dust was developed using stir casting technique. Dimensional stability (creep) evaluation and thermal behavior were performed to assess the performance of the produced modified composites. Thermal behavior was carried out using DSC thermal analyzer at operating temperatures of 0–500 °C to determine the behavior of the composites relative to temperatures, while the creep behavior (dimensional stability) was conducted using Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA 242E) at elevated temperature of 100 °C under a load of 3 N for 70 min. The results show that hybrid composites with designation B2 (50% SiCp:50%QD) and B3 (25% SiCp:75% QD) displayed superior creep resistance without dimensional instability; the highest dimensional change of 0.11 pct was observed in Bo (100% SiCp), while dimensional changes of < 0.05 pct was observed for unmodified alloy, B1 (75% SiCp:25% QD) and B4 (100% QD), respectively. However, superior elevated temperature was observed in sample designations Bo and B2, respectively, when compared with unmodified (unreinforced) alloy.