Study of Mechanical and Tribological Characteristics of Aluminium Alloy Reinforced with Rice Husk Ash

Abstract

Metal matrix composites are the materials in which reinforcement materials are added to improve their properties. The main problem associated with the Metal Matrix Composites is the high cost of reinforcement material. To overcome this obstacle, a need arises to look for low cost reinforcements like Rice Husk Ash (RHA), Fly Ash, etc. In the present paper, the Mechanical and Tribological Properties (i.e. wear and friction) of aluminum Al6061 reinforced with RHA and fabricated by stir casting technique are studied. The volume fraction of RHA reinforcement is varied in the range of 4-12% by volume. The reinforcement of RHA particles increases the tensile strength of the aluminum alloy. From the micro-hardness test conducted on Vickers micro-hardness tester, it is observed that micro-hardness of the alloy increases with increase in volume fraction of the reinforcement. The amount of wear depth decreases with increase in volume fraction of RHA indicating higher wear resistance for the composite. From the Tribological tests it was also concluded that with higher volume fraction of RHA the co-efficient of friction is higher. From the studies conducted it can be concluded that addition of RHA reinforcement improved the mechanical and Tribological properties of aluminum Al6061 alloy.