Effect of B4C particle reinforcement on tensile properties of Al7075/B4C composites

Abstract

The tensile properties of the composite materials are of most interest in the application of composite materials in specific environment. The production of composite material plays an important part in deciding the mechanical properties of the composite material. The process parameters selected during the manufacturing of composite material decides the tensile properties of the material. This work is oriented towards developing a new composite material with Aluminium 7075 as the matrix material and reinforcing it with boron carbide as the reinforcing material. The reinforcement substantial is varied in weight percentage and the tensile strength is studied at different compositions for better results. High purity Al7075 is reinforced with 5%, 10% and 15% weight with commercial grade boron carbide. The results demonstrate that the B4C particulates are dispersed in Al7075 matrix phase. With increasing reinforcement weight fraction, tensile strength decreases initially and increases. From ANOVA it has been found that mixing time and B4C weight percentage have more influence on tensile strength. Maximum tensile strength obtained at mixing time of 9 min, B4C weight percent of 15% and with reinforcement particle size of 9 mm.