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DOI 10.1007/s12666-015-0542-8
TECHNICAL PAPER
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particulates [15]. SiC, Al2O3 and MgO particles reinforced Max) is shown in Table 1. SiC and Al2O3 particulates of
in the aluminum alloy matrix increases the tensile strength, size 1520 lm have been added to the matrix to prepare
yield strength and hardness. But the ductility decreases. The the composite. Test bars were prepared by varying the
increase in volume fraction of SiC improves strength of the particulate percentage from 0 to 20 % to study the effect of
alloy [6]. Arsenault et al. also reported that yield and tensile SiC and Al2O3 on mechanical properties of A356 alu-
strength increases whereas toughness and ductility decreases minum alloy. Stir casting technique was used to prepare the
with increase in volume percentage of particulate or decrease MMC test bars. A356 aluminium alloy was charged in the
in particle size. The decrease in mechanical properties with electric furnace and superheated to a temperature of
high volume fraction of particulate is due to the formation of 800 C. SiC/Al2O3 particulates were preheated to a tem-
particulate clusters in the matrix. Precipitated phases at the perature of 250 C for 30 min in an oven to remove
grain boundary and at the inter-dendritic areas are also re- moisture and absorbed gases and also to avoid the huge
sponsible for the crack initiation and propagation. The drop in liquid metal temperature after addition of the par-
fracture behavior of aluminum metal matrix composites ticles. Degasing of liquid metal was done by hexa-chloro-
depends on the distribution of particulates in the matrix. The ethane tablets. The liquid metal was transferred to the la-
non-uniform distribution of particulates in the matrix re- dle. Liquid metal temperature was maintained at 750 C
duces the strength level [7]. The final properties of metal with sufficient viscosity. The molten metal was stirred at a
matrix composites depend on the interface strength between speed of 200 rpm for 5 min with the help of impeller to
the matrix and reinforcement [8]. Several manufacturing create sufficient vortex. The stir speed chosen is high
techniques are available to prepare the composite like enough to get a sufficient vortex for proper mixing of the
powder metallurgy, stir casting process, squeeze casting etc. ceramic particles with the liquid metal and at the same time
[9]. Stir casting is one of the low cost manufacturing pro- it is low enough to avoid the gas and air entrapment in the
cesses for MMCs and suitable for mass production. In this liquid metal. The preheated particles were introduced lat-
process the matrix material is melted and the reinforcement erally into the vortex of the molten metal. One percent Mg
particles are added to molten matrix through a mechanical was added to increase the wettability of the particles.
stirrer. But severe interfacial reactions between the matrix Stirring speed was maintained at 200 rpm for next 10 min
and reinforcement and poor wettability of the composites to ensure the proper mixing.
limit its applications [10]. Many other manufacturing vari- Optimized T6 heat treatment was done on the test bars
ables affect the final properties of AMMCs composites. They to enhance the mechanical properties. Samples were held at
include matrix alloy, heat treatment condition, particle vol- 540 C for 4 h towards solutionization followed by water
ume fraction and size [11]. Stiffer, stronger matrix and good quenching. Artificial aging was done at 170 C for 6 h.
interfacial strength of particulates creates high strength
AMMCs. Good bonding between the liquid matrix and
particles is required to transfer and distribute load from the 3 Results and Discussion
matrix to reinforcement which enhances the strength prop-
erties [12]. 3.1 Microstructure
In this present investigation, SiC and Al2O3 reinforced
aluminum metal matrix composite have been developed via The microstructures of A356 aluminum alloy and SiC and
stir casting process route. The effect of reinforcement vol- Al2O3 reinforced composites are shown in Fig. 1. The base
ume fraction on microstructure, physical and mechanical alloy microstructure consists of large grain size as shown in
properties of the composite have been investigated. Fig. 1a. The grains are polygonal in shape and distributed
uniformly. In the microstructure of SiC reinforced com-
posites, the grain size was smaller than that of the base
2 Experimental Procedure alloy, and consisted of equiaxed grains (Fig. 1bd). The
SiC particles reinforced composites during solidification
The matrix material used for the present study was A356 are heterogeneous sites for nucleation and hence grain
aluminium alloy. The chemical composition of A356 alloy growth has been restricted. This leads to grain refinement.
has been analyzed by spectro analyzer and (MakeSpectro Furthermore, the particles have been distributed uniformly
6.57.5 0.32 0.2 max 0.1 max 0.20.45 0.1 max 0. 01 0.05 Bal
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Fig. 1 Optical microstructure SiC, Al2O3 particles added Aluminium composites a base alloy, b 10 % SiC, c 15 % SiC, d 20 % SiC, e 10 %
Al2O3, f 15 % Al2O3 and g 20 % Al2O3
with low segregation; its an indication of uniform rate of indicates the good wettability of SiC particles. The rotation
cooling in the stir casting process. It was also observed that of the stirrer generates a vortex flow through which the SiC
there is low agglomeration in the microstructure which particles were drawn into the melt. A high local shear force
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was exerted on the clusters to break down the bulky co- composites, the difference between the experimental and
hesive SiC particles. In all reinforced composites, the SiC theoretical density was nearly 10 % indicating that more
particles are located in the grain boundary region. In 10 % agglomeration of particulates increases pore volume
SiC containing samples, the grain size and boundaries were fraction.
not uniform as compared to 15 and 20 % SiC containing
composites. Whereas in 20 % SiC containing composites,
grains were elongated uniformly and had a plate like 4 Mechanical Behavior
structure. In 10 % Al2O3 containing composites, elongated
grains with uniformly distributed Al2O3 particulates were The effects of SiC and Al2O3 reinforcement on the me-
observed (Fig. 1e). Furthermore, the particles distributed chanical properties of aluminum metal matrix composites
uniformly in the matrix system is a good indication of are as shown in Fig. 2. The tensile and yield strength in-
proper manufacturing process. In 15 and 20 % Al2O3 creases with increase in the volume fraction of SiC rein-
containing composites, agglomeration rate was high forcement. Whereas in Al2O3 reinforced aluminum
(Fig. 1f, g). In both 15 and 20 % Al2O3 contataing com- containing composites, increasing the reinforcement vol-
posites, the particulates agglomerated near the grain ume fraction reduces the strength. The 20 % SiC rein-
boundaries. In addtion, 20 % Al2O3 containing composites forcement samples show 16 % improvement in tensile
clustering volume fraction was higher than 15 % Al2O3 strength and 10 % Al2O3 reinforced composites showed
samples. It is an evident that, the degree of agglomeration 19 % increase in tensile strength as compared to that of the
increases with increasing the volume fraction. base alloy. In SiC containing composites, the increase in
Table 2 shows the comparison between the theoretical mechanical properties was due to the large difference in
density, calculated by the rule of mixture for the composite coefficient of thermal expansion between the aluminum
and the density measured by the experiment based on alloy matrix and the reinforcement. This creates misfit
Archimedean principle. The density of composite was stress due to difference in thermal contraction at the in-
marginally higher than the base metal and increased with terface between the matrix and reinforcement. The non-
increase in particulate percentage. The density measured uniform stress generates dislocations in the region. The
by the experiment is lower than the calculated one, because increased dislocation density improves the strength of the
of the presence of micro pores in the cast component and alloy. The same composites have been heat treated and the
non-uniform distribution of the particulates in all com- thermally induced mismatch served as nucleation sites for
posites. The pore volume fraction marginally increases by precipitate formation in the matrix and reinforcement re-
increasing the particulate content. Increasing the volume gion. The increased amount of solid solution precipitate
fraction of particles enhances the viscosity of the melt increases the mechanical properties of 20 % SiC contain-
which causes gas to be trapped in the molten metal and thus ing composites. Furthermore, increasing the volume frac-
the pore volume fraction of composites increased. More- tion of SiC particulate results in greater load transfer to the
over in the higher particle samples, pore nucleation at the reinforcement resulting in higher ultimate tensile strength.
surface reduces the liquid metal flow. In base alloy some In Al2O3 containing composites, 10 % volume fraction of
large pores were observed in the microstructure, while no Al2O3 exhibits better properties than base alloy and SiC
such pores were observed in the all particulate reinforced containing composites. Furthermore, the increasing volume
composites. Furthermore, in 20 % Al2O3 containing fraction of Al2O3 particulates beyond 10 % reduces the
strength level drastically. In composites containing 15 and
20 % of Al2O3 particulates, material tensile strength is
marginally lower than the yield strength. This is an indi-
Table 2 Theoretical and experimental density of SiC reinforced cation of the slow precipitation hardening rate during the
composites
heat treatment as compared to the 10 % Al2O3 containing
Particulars Theoretical Experimental composites. Since, the Al2O3 volume fraction increases,
density (g/cm3) density (g/cm3) more dislocation sites in the alloy also develops. During
Base metal 2.71 2.6 the heat treatment, the dislocation sites act as solid solution
Al ? 10 % SiC 2.749 2.612 precipitation sites. The slow hardening rate reduces the
Al ? 15 % SiC 2.768 2.608 amount of precipitation and generates micro porosities.
Al ? 20 % SiC 2.788 2.643 Consequently, the strength level has been reduced in the
Al ? 10 % Al2O3 2.799 2.619 high volume fraction Al2O3 containing composites. Fur-
Al ? 15 % Al2O3 2.898 2.658 thermore, in homogenous distribution and higher degree of
Al ? 20 % Al2O3 2.997 2.668
agglomeration in (Fig. 1f, g) the 15 and 20 % Al2O3 con-
taining composites, the strength level reduces drastically.
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Where as in 10 % Al2O3 containing composites, uniform investigated. The yield and tensile strength increases with
precipitation rate and homogeneous distribution of par- increase in volume fraction of SiC particulates. The 20 %
ticulate matrix increases the strength. SiC reinforced composite exhibits 16 % increase in
Figure 2 shows the hardness of the base alloy, SiC and strength compared to the base alloy. Whereas 10 % Al2O3
Al2O3 reinforced composites. The hardness of both SiC and containing composites exhibits 19 % higher strength than
Al2O3 particulate reinforced composites was nearly 16 % base alloys. Higher volume fraction of Al2O3 containing
higher than the non-reinforced alloy. The uniform distri- composites slow the precipitation rate and higher ag-
bution of particles has an important effect on the hardness glomeration reduces the strength. Based on the present
increment of the composites. The constraints of plastic investigation, the 20 % SiC and 10 % Al2O3 reinforced
deformation of the matrix during the indentation also de- composites are suitable material for heavy vehicle clutch
pend on the distribution of particles in the matrix. In SiC, pressure and face plate application.
Al2O3 particulate reinforced composites, the particulates
act as obstacles for the motion of dislocation, thus in-
creasing the hardness. In addition, grain size reduction and
dispersion of particulates in the matrix system enhances the References
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