Particulate Reinforced Aluminium Metal Matrix Research Articles

Surface Investigation of Physella Acuta Snail Shell Particle Reinforced Aluminium Matrix Composites

Aluminium-matrix composite is one of the most preferred engineering materials and is known for its potential benefits, such as lightweight nature, high specific stiffness, superior strength, machinability, etc. The metal–matrix composites are very attractive for critical applications: Aerospace field, defense deployments, automotive sector, marine industry. In the present work, novel Physella Acuta Snail Shell particle reinforced aluminium metal–matrix composites are developed to facilitate cost-effective and sustainable manufacturing. These green composites are developed by stir-casting with LM0 as matrix material and snail shell as reinforcement with a distinct percentage (by weight) of inclusion. The influence of snail shells is analyzed through tribological, morphological, and corrosion studies. Aluminium–matrix composite Al98SNS2 with 98% (by weight) aluminium matrix and 2% (by weight) snail shell reinforcement exhibits superior performance in all investigations. Al98SNS2 composite exhibits the least wear rate in the atmosphere of deionized water and 3.5% NaCl. Corrosion deteriorates the surface roughness irrespective of the percentage of incorporation of snail shell reinforcement. However, the deterioration is minimal in Al98SNS2. The current research findings indicate that the incorporation of snail shell in aluminum metal–matrix composites promotes cost-effective, sustainable, and eco-friendly manufacturing.

An overview of the effect of stirrer design on the mechanical properties of Aluminium Alloy Matrix Composites fabricated by stir casting

An overview of the effect of stirrer design on the mechanical properties of Aluminium Alloy Matrix Composites fabricated by stir casting

Study on preparation and mechanical characterization of alluminium-albite composites using powder metallurgy technique

Aluminium alloy (Al2024) has been selected as candidate matrix material for the present work. Over a period of time this grade of alloy, due to its proven track record, has been used to produce vital components for a wide range of applications notably used in automobiles, Aircrafts and other related industries, because of its light weight an acceptable strength to weight ratio. Particulate reinforced Aluminium metal matrix composites (AMMC’S) are the most preferred materials due to their low cost of production, enhanced properties and can be processed by various established fabrication techniques in practice. Albite naturally occurring feldspar has been chosen as the reinforcement material. The influence of Albite reinforcements on the properties of Al2024/Albite composite has been studied. Powder metallurgy technique has been adopted, mechanical blending of constituent powders, compaction, and sintering form the basic three stage processes of producing composites.Al2024/Albite composites are produced with varying Albite content (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 wt%). Optical Micrographs and SEM images revealed reinforcing Albite particles have been equitably distributed throughout the matrix with less presence of pores. Increase in compression strength and hardness was recorded with incremental increase in Albite reinforcement up to 5% Wt. of Albite, but tends to decrease with addition of additional Albite reinforcement.

Sintering Bonding of SiC Particulate Reinforced Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites by Using Cu Nanoparticles and Liquid Ga in Air.

SiC particulate reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites (SiCp/Al MMCs) are characterized by controllable thermal expansion, high thermal conductivity and lightness. These properties, in fact, define the new promotional material in areas and industries such as the aerospace, automotive and electrocommunication industries. However, the poor weldability of this material becomes its key problem for large-scale applications. Sintering bonding technology was developed to join SiCp/Al MMCs. Cu nanoparticles and liquid Ga were employed as self-fluxing filler metal in air under joining temperatures ranging from 400 °C to 500 °C, with soaking time of 2 h and pressure of 3 MPa. The mechanical properties, microstructure and gas tightness of the joint were investigated. The microstructure analysis demonstrated that the joint was achieved by metallurgical bonding at contact interface, and the sintered layer was composed of polycrystals. The distribution of Ga was quite homogenous in both of sintered layer and joint area. The maximum level of joint shear strength of 56.2 MPa has been obtained at bonding temperature of 450 °C. The specimens sintering bonded in temperature range of 440 °C to 460 °C had qualified gas tightness during the service, which can remain 10−10 Pa·m3/s.

Characterization of Boron Carbide (B4C) particle reinforced aluminium metal matrix composites fabricated by powder metallurgy techniques – A review

Composite materials are in trend in research and industrial fields due to its superior mechanical properties and easy processing techniques. While there are different processing techniques to fabricate the composite materials, powder metallurgy finds unique place in fabrication of composite materials. To enhance the properties of composite materials added reinforcements have to share loads while applying loads, due to high exceptional properties of added reinforcements composite able to withstand high stress values this load transferring mechanisms happens at interface regions of Al-B4C system, to understand the interface chemistry and mechanisms it is must to investigate the interface phenomenon at different conditions. In this paper authors reviewed some of the major important works done on Al-B4C composites fabricated by powder metallurgy techniques.

Jump ablation-based improvement of nanosecond laser processing of SiCp/AA2024 composites

Ceramic particulate reinforced metal matrix composites is a promising material, but it is difficult to be machined. Pulsed laser processing as a advanced technique is widely used in material processing, but the pulsed laser processing of particulate reinforced metal matrix composites is not sufficiently studied. In this work, scanning ablation of SiC particulate reinforced aluminum metal matrix (SiCp/AA2024) composites was conducted using a nanosecond laser. An innovative jump ablation method was proposed, and the composites processing by jump ablation and common ablation were compared. Both plasma’s and nanosecond laser ablation mechanism’s effects on ablation were analyzed. In contrast to common ablation, jump ablation can effectively increase the ablation depth and rate. At an SOR of 95%, the ablation depth was 39 μm and 99 μm in common and jump ablation respectively, and the increasement was nearly 150%. Meanwhile, The matrix and reinforcement phases on the composites’ ablated surface after jump ablation exhibited relatively independent distribution, while the recast layer was thinner and less oxidized than that produced by common ablation.

Fabrication and Investigation of Mechanical Properties of SiC Particulate Reinforced AA5052 Metal Matrix Composite

In this present research particulate reinforced aluminium metal matrix composite is developed by using sand mould and liquid stir casting processing route in which AA5052 reinforced with 5 wt. % SiC particulates of 63µm particle size. The density, porosity, micro-hardness, and compressive strength of SiC particulate reinforced AA5052 MMC were investigated and compared these properties with similar properties of unreinforced AA5052. The microstructure of the developed composite was also analysed by using optical microscopy, SEM, and XRD. Developed particulate reinforced Al metal matrix composite gives improved hardness and compressive strength as compared to the unreinforced AA5052. The addition of 5 wt. % SiC particulates increases the density of AA5052.

Effect of Controllable Parameters on the Tribological Behavior of Ceramic Particulate Reinforced Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites: A Review

The inherent properties of ceramic type of reinforcements such as high fracture toughness, high corrosive resistance, improved wear resistance make it suitable as reinforcements inMetal Matrix Composites (MMC).This review article summarizes the wear behavior of ceramic particulate reinforced Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites (Al-MMC). The influence of material factors such as type of ceramic reinforcement, size and volume fraction; mechanical parameters such as sliding velocity, sliding distance and applied load on the wear behavior of Al-MMC have been discussed. The reduction in wear rate due to formation of tribolayer between the contact surfaces has been reviewed in the current study.Literature revealed that uniform distribution of hard ceramic particles (B4C, SiC) and solid lubricants (Gr, MoS2, Boron Nitride) as hybrid reinforcements can adequately enhanced the wear behavior of mating surfaces. The study illustrates that Al-MMC exclusively hybrid MMC can be treated as preeminent material for design of brake discs, piston-cylinder arrangements which require high specific strength and wear resistance.

Abrasive wear behavior of SiC particulate reinforced AA5052 metal matrix composite

In the present work particulate reinforced aluminium metal matrix composites were developed by stir casting processing route in which AA5052 was reinforced with 5 wt% SiC-p of 63 µm particles size. The abrasive wear behavior of SiC-p reinforced AA5052 MMC was investigated and compared with that of unreinforced AA5052. The worn surfaces were analysed by optical microscopy. The results show that at all applied loading conditions, SiC-p reinforced AA5052 MMC gives improved tribological properties as compared to the unreinforced AA5052; but the addition of SiC-p increases the density of the AA5052.

Tribological characterization of particulate-reinforced aluminum metal matrix nanocomposites: A review

Aluminum (Al)-based composites are on increasing usage in sectors like ground transportation, aerospace, sports, and infrastructure because of the improved properties such as high strength to weight ratio, corrosion, fatigue, and wear resistance. Several applications involving dynamic contact stresses require excellent wear and frictional performance for improved life. Nanocomposites are found to perform exceedingly better than microcomposites and alloys in several lab scale tribological investigations carried out so far in the last decade. In this article, an attempt is made to review those published reports about dry sliding tribological behavior of particulate-reinforced Al nanocomposites. Wear and friction being system properties are found to get influenced by intrinsic factors such as reinforcement, fabrication method, microstructure; extrinsic parameters like load, speed, contact conditions and the system generated in situ tribolayer all being interrelated.

Effects of SiC particle size on mechanical properties of SiC particle reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite

In this paper, effects of SiC particle size on the mechanical properties and the failure mechanisms of Al/SiC composites under compression with strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 5200 s−1 were investigated. Al/SiC composites consisting of 65 wt% SiC particles with the average size of 10 μm and 50 μm were studied respectively. The quasi-static (strain rate of 0.001s−1) and dynamic compression tests (strain rates of 2200s−1-5200s−1) were performed separately for both materials with different SiC particle size. And optical microscope (OM) was used to observe the failure characteristics of the reclaimed specimens. The results show that as the increasing strain rate, results in the improvement of yield strength of both composites. Moreover, the composites with the SiC particle size of 10 μm have a larger yield strength than that 50 μm one. The microstructure analyses reveal that separation of SiC particles from aluminum matrix and fragmentation of SiC particles are the main failure mechanisms of Al/SiC composites subjected to compressive loading. The adhesive force between the SiC particles and aluminum matrix has a significant effect on the compressive resistance of the composites. The Al/SiC composites with the small SiC particles size are superior to the larger one under compressive loading due to the more compact interface and larger tension for the movement of dislocations. The perforation test was carried out for the material with the SiC particle average size of 10 μm, and its anti-penetration performance is about 1.50 times higher than 10CrNiMo steel.

Analytical model of workpiece temperature in end milling in-situ TiB2/7050Al metal matrix composites

At present, analytical models to predict cutting temperature of metal matrix composites do not exist. The objective of this study is to establish an analytical temperature model of workpiece machined by the bottom cutting edge during end milling in-situ TiB2/7050Al metal matrix composites. In this model, the moving heat source method was applied with taking into consideration the tool flank wear effect, complex tool geometry of bottom cutting edge, dynamic heat flux and heat partition. Meanwhile, to meet the actual cutting facts, the effect of heating time was also considered. A dynamic cutting force model and the shear angle relationship were built for heat flux calculation and temperature modeling. With theoretical calculation and experimental data, the heat partition ratio, which stands for the heat conducted into workpiece, was found to increase linearly as thermal number increased. With validation, the proposed cutting temperature model was proved to be of good reliability and accuracy with the relative errors between prediction model and experiments being smaller than 18%. This analytical model will be of great significance for both the temperature modeling work of end milling process and analytical temperature modeling study of machining particle reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites.

Development and Mechanical Characterization of Al6061-Zircon Composites

Composite materials are widely used in variety of applications such as aerospace, automotive and structural components resulting in savings of material and energy. Particulate reinforced Aluminium metal matrix composite materials which are having desirable properties such as high specific stiffness, high specific strength, high coefficient of thermal expansion, increased fatigue resistance and superior dimensional stability compared to unreinforced alloys. In the present work an attempt has been made to develop composites using Al 6061 as a matrix material reinforced with Zircon particulates using stir casting technique. The Zircon particulates were varied in steps of 0 %, 3%, 6%, 9% and 12%. The Specimens were prepared as per the ASTM standards. The prepared composites were characterized by microstructural studies using optical microscope and tensile strength and hardness properties were evaluated. Zircon particles were observed to refine the grains and were distributed homogeneously in the aluminium matrix at 9% of Zircon. The tensile and hardness properties were higher in case of composites when compared to unreinforced Al 6061 matrix. Also increasing addition level of Zircon has resulted in further increase in both tensile strength and hardness values and optimum value was obtained at 9% of Zircon.

Wear resistance performance of AlCrN and TiAlN coated H13 tools during friction stir welding of A2124/SiC composite

Tool wear during friction stir welding (FSW) of hard particulate reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites (Al MMCs) are more prominent due to the tool interaction with the particulates at high strain rate. Considering the excellent mechanical and wear resistance properties of cathodic arc PVD coatings, they are expected to abate the wear of tools during FSW of Al MMCs. Hence, it is the aim of this study to investigate the contribution of cathodic arc PVD deposited AlCrN and TiAlN coatings in alleviating tool wear during FSW of Al MMCs. AlCrN and TiAlN coated H13 FSW tools were used to butt weld 8 mm thick aluminum alloy 2124 reinforced with 17 vol% SiC of 3 μm particle size. Interestingly, the coated tools exhibited significant improvement in wear resistance of about 92 and 80%, respectively, over the bare H13 tool. Over 97% reduction in the wear of the FSW tool was recorded during the plunging stage with the use of the coated tools. Additionally, AlCrN and TiAlN coated tools considerably improved the surface finish of the welded Al MMC. The coated tools demonstrated superior wear resistance due to the improved scratch crack resistance, high mechanical and oxidation resistance properties of the coatings. Dominant wear mechanisms on AlCrN and TiAlN coated tools were abrasive erosion and chipping off by sharp and hard SiC particles while severe striation and oxidation characterized the wear mechanism of the bare tool. The use of these coatings did not deteriorate the weld properties, rather some improvement in the hardness of the nugget zone was observed due to the characteristic dynamic stirring and refinement of the Al matrix and SiC particles.

Mechanical Characterization of Aluminium Metal Matrix Composite Reinforced with Aloe vera powder

In the recent years metal matrix composites (MMCs) attracted the researchers more as they become one of the most important structural materials depending on the requirement. Specifically, the particulate reinforced Aluminium metal matrix composites have received significant attention due to the improved mechanical and tribological properties such as strength, stiffness, impact resistance, wear resistance etc. The ceramic particles such as silicon carbide and aluminium oxide are the most widely used for reinforcement of aluminium matrix. In the recent times, the growing concern of manufacturing industries is to use cost effective reinforced Aluminium metal matrix composites for meeting their production rates with least cost considerations without sacrificing the specific properties. In this context, several attempts made by the researchers to use various materials such as graphite, red mud, bagass ash, rice husk ash, fly ash etc for reinforcement of Aluminium metal matrix. In this paper an attempt has been made to employ Aloe vera powder as a reinforcement material for Aluminium metal matrix composites as it is readily available less denser eco-friendly material at low cost and it could be the alternative to fly ash in respect of better physical and mechanical properties. In the present work stir casting method is employed for preparing the specimens of Aluminium matrix composite with fly ash reinforcement as well as Aluminium matrix composite with aloe vera reinforcement. An experimental study has been carried on mechanical characterization of aluminium metal matrix composites using fly ash and aloe vera as reinforcement materials separately. The findings of the experimental investigation reveal that there is a significant improvement in mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and impact strength when aloe vera used as reinforcement material to that of fly ash.

Fabrication methods of particulate reinforced Aluminium metal matrix composite-A review

In this modern competitive world demand has been increased towards the development for lighter, energy efficient materials. Aluminium metal matrix composite has been the best suited materials for research in this direction. Fabrication methods used for aluminium metal matrix composite can be broadly of two types solid state processing and liquid state processing. Stir casting is the most common liquid state process used for fabrication of AMMCs. It is simple in operation and cost effective and provides a fairly uniform distribution of particles. Powder metallurgy is the mostly used solid state process for fabrication. It provides uniform distribution of particles but costlier than stir casting. Compo-casting, squeeze casting, friction stir processing, spray casting etc. are the other manufacturing processes used but up to a lesser extent.

Investigation of dynamic effects during cold upset-forging of Silicon Carbide particulate reinforced Aluminium metal matrix composite preforms

The Aluminium based metal matrix composite with LM6 aluminium as base alloy and Silicon Carbide as reinforcement material was made by liquid stir casting process. The preforms of required dimensions were obtained by machining the cast specimen. Two separate cases of deformation, that is open die forging of solid disc and the solid rectangular preforms were considered in the present study. Both experimental and upper bound theoretical analysis were carried out taking into account the composite interfacial friction law, barrelling of preform vertical sides and the effect of die velocity on various deformation characteristics such as forging load, height reduction and energy dissipations. The results obtained are graphically presented and critically evaluated to assess the correlation between theoretical and experimental findings.

A Fuzzy approach to trim down the struggles in machining of AMMC by means of optimization of the Surface Roughness and Kerf Width

Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites (AMMCs) are the precise resources for aerospace, defense, marine, automobile, and sports industries due to their elevated strength to mass ratio, even though industries are facing lots of troubles in machining vicinity of these materials due to the existence of abrasive particles such as silicon carbide, aluminium oxide etc., which causes the brisk tool wear and hence tool malfunction within a very near to the ground machining time. In other hand Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) may be a well alternative in the Machining of abrasive particle reinforced aluminium metal matrix composites over conventional machining. Also WEDM technology, convoluted cuts can be made through difficult-to-machine electrically conductive components with the high degree of accessible accuracy and the fine surface quality make WEDM priceless. Still, a threat occurred is the ceramic particles resists the current through the composites. Also the selection of Matrix material among the available materials is a tough criterion. Hence this paper focused on trim down these struggles. For this selecting the matrix material among the three series of aluminium materials available with the suppliers by means of the normalization criterion have been done. AMMC samples are produced as per the taguchi experimental design in view of collective material and WEDM parameters and machined to obtain the responses: surface roughness and kerf width. These are analyzed and derived an optimal set of parameters with the patronage of fuzzy approach.

Machining mechanism in tilt electrical discharge milling for lens mold

A new machining method for lens molds using tilt electrical discharge milling (ED milling) has been experimentally investigated. Compared with the conventional ED milling, the tilt ED milling enables efficient enlargement of discharge gap by adjusting the tilt angles of the workpiece which results in efficient chip removal and burnish surface quality. On account of this method, micro lens craters were fabricated on the tungsten carbide (WC) and silicon carbide particulate reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite (SiCp/Al) at the optimized machining parameters under various tilt angles of the workpiece. The surface morphology and material removal rate were determined with a laser scanning microscope VK-X100 (KEYENCE, Japan). Experimental results present a 60% rise in surface quality at 25° in tilt ED milling. On the basis of electromagnetic effect, the machining mechanism is analyzed in detail in tilt ED milling for lens molds.

Mechanical and Micro-Structural Behavior of Lignite Coal Based Fly-Ash and Microsphere Reinforced Al 6061 Metal Matrix Composite

Metal-matrix composites (MMC’s) have considerably enhanced properties including high specific strength; specific modulus, damping capacity and good wear resistance compared to non-reinforced alloys. There has been an increasing interest in composites containing low density and low cost reinforcements. Among various discontinuous dispersions used, fly-ash is one of the most less-expensive and low density reinforcement available in large quantities as solid waste by-product during combustion of coal in Thermal power plants. Alternatively Microspheres derived from the fly ash is also used as reinforcement in Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite to enhance the material properties. Hence, MMC’s uses fly ash and its derivatives used as reinforcement are likely to overcome the cost barrier for wide spread applications in automotive and other industrial applications.Similarly particulate reinforced Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite are gaining importance because of their low cost with advantages like isotropic properties and the possibility of secondary processing facilitating fabrication of secondary components. The Stir casting method based particulate reinforced Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites have higher specific strength, specific modulus and good wear resistance as compared to non-reinforced Al-alloys. They find wide applications in automobile and aerospace because of their excellent combination of physical, mechanical and tribological properties. Primarily because of their high specific strength and stiffness, these composite materials could also be used in Automobiles weight reduction and other applications. In this work a comparative study between Fly ash and Fly ash derived Microsphere base Al-MMC is explained in lucid manner.