Effect of hot extrusion on mechanical behaviour of boron nitride reinforced aluminium 6061-based metal matrix composites

Abstract

In this present investigation Al 6061-based BN reinforced metal matrix composites were developed with 6 and 9 wt% of boron nitride. The Al 6061 was chosen as base material owing to its superior formability, light weight and moderate strength. Boron nitride was used as reinforcement keeping in mind its excellent wear and corrosion resistance along with superior strength and thermal properties. The stir casting method was adopted for development of composites since it is most flexible and universally accepted method for preparing castings economically. The developed composites were subjected to extrusion process. Mechanical properties were tested both before and after the extrusion to study the impact of extrusion process on properties of composites. It was observed that hardness and tensile strength of both casted and extruded samples were improved by the addition of the BN reinforcement. Whereas ductility of samples reduced with the increase of boron nitride concentration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to identify the distribution of boron nitride (BN) and to study the fractured surfaces of Al 6061-BN metal matrix composites.