Investigation of Microstructures, Mechanical Properties of AZ91E Hybrid Composite Reinforced with Silicon Carbide and Fly Ash

Abstract

In this study, the stir casting processing technique was used to produce the AZ91E hybrid composite reinforced with Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Fly ash (FA) particles in different weight percentages varying from 0 to 10%.30 μm in size. This paper investigates the micro structural phenomena and partial mechanical behavior (i.e., tensile strength, hardness, and fracture toughness) of AZ91E alloy reinforced with SiC and FA. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) furnished with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was used to investigate the microstructures. The results show that the SiC and Fly-ash particles are uniformly distributed in the matrix, and there is no sign of SiC and Fly ash agglomerations. The densities of the composites varied from1.805–1.829 g/cm3.The results of hybrid composite samples are then compared with as AZ91E alloy samples. This study found that the addition of both a hard reinforcement (e.g., SiC) and soft reinforcement (e.g., fly ash) remarkably improves the mechanical property such as tensile strength, the hardness of magnesium composites. However, the fracture toughness and elongation of magnesium composites were decreased due to grain refinement due to the addition of reinforcement particles. The tensile test results obtained from the experimental process were compared with finite element method results. The finite element results were in good agreement with the experimental results.