Abstract
There has been growing interest in developing new materials with higher strength-to-weight ratios. Therefore, AM60 magnesium alloy reinforced with SiO2 nanoparticles was synthesized using ultrasound-casting method for the first time, in this study. We introduced 1 and 2 wt.% of SiO2 nanoparticles into the samples. Introduction of nanoparticles led to the grain size drop in MS2 (AM60 + 2 wt.% SiO2) samples. In addition, this increased the hardness of samples from 34.8 Vickers hardness (HV) in M (AM60) to 51.5 HV in MS2, and increased the compressive strength of MS2. Improvement of the mechanical properties can be attributed to a combination of Orowan, Hall–Petch and load-bearing mechanisms. However, ductility of the composites decreased with fracture strains being 0.41, 0.39 and 0.37, respectively, for samples M, MS1 and MS2. Fracture surfaces showed shear fracture in both composite samples with microcracks and a more brittle fracture in MS2.
Highlights
There has been a growing interest in developing new structural materials with higher strength-to-weight ratios [1,2,3,4,5,6]
While Mg has the disadvantage of limited ductility since it is a hexagonal closed-packed (HCP) metal, Al is more ductile given by its face-centered cubic
Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) point test was carried out for MS2 sample (Figure 2) and the result is shown in Table 2, which shows that the composition of the synthesized composite was probably near the expected range which shows that the composition of the synthesized composite was probably near the expected determined by the ASTM AM60 standard and that the casting procedure was carried out correctly
Summary
There has been a growing interest in developing new structural materials with higher strength-to-weight ratios [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Mg is about 35% lighter than Al, both of them have similar melting points and strengths. While Mg has the disadvantage of limited ductility since it is a hexagonal closed-packed (HCP) metal, Al is more ductile given by its face-centered cubic. Mg alloys exhibit a relatively low absolute strength, compared to other structural alloys, especially at high temperatures. The applications of most widely used alloys of magnesium which are based on the Mg–Al system are limited to the temperatures around 120 ◦ C [8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
