Study of mechanical properties and metallurgical characteristics of al7075sic al2o3 hybrid metal matrix composite

Abstract

The demand for advanced materials which are lighter, stronger and wear-hard is increasing for various applications in many industries. Composite materials could be produced with required combination of properties such as ductility, hardness, wear resistance by varying the reinforcements, base alloy matrix and many other parameters associated with the production of composites. Metal matrix composites are gaining significance in the field of aerospace and automotive for various applications. Many components used in these industries require materials that possess the combination of ductility and hardness together to certain degree. These characteristics could be achieved by producing metal matrix composites that contain ductile metal matrix in which hard reinforcements are included in certain proportions. Aluminium alloys are the most common ones used as matrix material for making metal matrix composites along with different reinforcements such as silicon carbide, alumina, boron carbide, graphite etc. Composites produced with Al7075 alloy as matrix material reinforced with different materials are widely employed in aero and auto industries. Al7075 alloy s properties could be tailored to match the requirements of a specific application. Moreover Al7075 alloy is heat treatable which gives scope for further improvement/variation in hardness and ductility related properties. Among the reinforcement materials SiC and Al2O3 have many favorable properties to enhance the mechanical and wear properties of the base alloy when added. The study of the vast literature in metal matrix composites revealed that only a very few researchers have worked with such combination of materials. Hence this research work is carried out to investigate the mechanical, wear and metallurgical characteristics of Al7075+SiC+Al2O3 hybrid aluminum metal matrix composites by producing the composite samples with different weight percentages of reinforcements. iv iv The hybrid aluminium metal matrix composites were produced by stir-casting method whi