Investigation on the abrasive water jet machining characteristics of zirconium silicate hexagonal boron nitride reinforced hybrid aluminium metal matrix composite

Abstract

Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) grabbed a special attention among the researchers due to its unique properties. Among MMC, Aluminium Metal Matrix Composite (AMMC) was widely used in automotive and aerospace application owing to its superior mechanical properties such as high strength to weight ratio, wear and corrosion resistance. The reinforcement particles such as graphite, boron carbide, silicon carbide, tungsten carbide, red mud and rice husk ash are used in the fabrication of AMMC. There are many hard ceramic reinforcements are widely available such as SiC, TiC, Al2O3, B4C and so on. The emerging reinforcement zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4) particles withstand up to high temperature at 2400°C and also possess high density, low thermal conductivity, better wear resistance, high fracture toughness, chemical inertness, high hardness and tensile strength. Furthermore, addition of solid lubricant particles to the reinforced AMMC enhances an anti-frictional property which creates better self-lubricating effect to the AMMC. Thereby surface damage occurred during the non-traditional machining averts considerably. Using Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) as a self-lubricant, prevents tool wear and sub-surface deterioration under the elevated machining conditions. The anti-frictional characteristics of hBN creates self-structured layer which safeguard the aluminium matrix from severe damage even under the high machining force. Excessive volume percentage of hBN reinforcing on the aluminium matrix affects the mechanical properties of the base material. newlineThe fabrication processes like friction stir processing, spread dispersion, spark plasma sintering, ball milling and stir casting are available for metal matrix composites. Stir casting is a promising and cost effective technique which turns out to be a large quantity production method for manufacturing industries. The presence of ZrSiO4 as a hard ceramic reinforcement and hBN as a soft dry lubricant increase the machining difficulty using traditional machining techniques because