Influence of melon shell ash reinforcement on the mechanical and microstructural characteristics of recycled aluminium matrix composites

Abstract

This study produced a composite using melon shell ash as reinforcement on recycled Aluminium waste cans matrix. The melon shell particulate additions to the matrix were done in wt.% of 0, 10, 5, 15 and 20. The mechanical behaviour of the composite demonstrates that the tensile values increased as the particulate addition increased to 15% wt. to reach a maximum of 113MPa but dropped at the 20% addition. The impact energy on the other hand increases marginally at 5% particulate addition and increases slightly higher with the addition of reinforcement of 10% wt to attain a maximum value of 77J. However, a further increase in the melon shell ash to 15% wt and 20% wt reduced the impact energy. The hardness values of the composites at all the % wt. additions were generally higher than that of the unreinforced Aluminium with the peak hardness value of 57.2BHN obtained at 10% wt. addition. The density of the composites decreases as the % wt. of the melon shell ash particles increases. The improved mechanical properties and lower density of the composites achieved in this study are significant factors in developing strong and lightweight engineering materials for industrial applications.