Investigation of Physical, Mechanical and Tribological

properties of Al6061- ZrO2 Metal Matrix Composites

Ch Guna sekhar1, G Pradeep kumar1, T Bhanumurthy1, R Pramod1 and G B
Veeresh Kumar1,2
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru,
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amrita University, India.
2
Corresponding author.
Email: veeru232@gmail.com
Phone: +9180-25183700 (Extension: 408),
Mobile: +91-944832329, +91-9972455343
Fax: +9180-28440092

Abstract. The present paper concentrates on the work done in order to investigate the physical,
mechanical and Tribological properties of Al6061 alloy reinforced with Zirconium Dioxide
(ZrO2) nano powder (200nm). Four casts of different percentages of reinforcement namely 0%,
2%, 4%, 6% are fabricated using liquid metallurgy technique (stir casting). These composites
were subjected to various physical, mechanical & tribological tests and the results were noted.
The tests were performed based on ASTM Standards. As per the results obtained we can say that
with the increase in percentage of reinforcement, the properties such as density, hardness, and
tensile strength increased significantly while the percentage elongation decreased. For the tensile
test the test specimen were made according to ASTM E8 M15.a standards and the hardness test
is done using Brinell’s hardness testing machine. Moreover, dry sliding wear test is performed
using pin on disc tribometer and the results state that the composite has higher wear resistance.
Off the three compositions of the composite material having the highest percentage of
reinforcement showed better properties. Scanning electron microscope images were used to
study the wear morphology during wear test. The SEM images of the fractured surfaces were
used to study the type of fracture occurred during tensile test.

1. Introduction
Metal Matrix Composites are extensively used for various application such as aircrafts, space shuttles
and automobiles because of their improved properties. These properties include light weight, high
stiffness, high strength, design flexibility, high corrosion and crack resistance. Due to the above
mentioned properties composites can be used to substitute other alloys such as cast iron and bronze.
Their unique properties are the reason for the need to develop more and more of new composite materials
[1-4]. The composites formed by adding earthen wear particulates as reinforcement possess high
resistance to scratch and thus can be used as parts of a car engine like cylinders, pistons, cylinder rings
etc. [5] Mostly Al alloys are used as materials in automobile and aircraft industries due to their excellent
properties which include low density, good mechanical and thermal properties. Of all the Al alloys,
Al6061 alloys has a lot of importance because of its exceptional properties. Al6061 alloys are widely
used in aeronautical industries as well as construction field because of its high strength and corrosion
resistance [6].When subjected to high temperature conditions Al composites having ceramic
reinforcement shows outstanding properties. The sliding wear of Al6061-Al2O3 composites can be
influenced by the hardness of the composite material [7]. Compared to all others MMCs, Al based metal
matrix composites have good mechanical properties [8-10].The wear rate of Al6061 and TiO2 composite
depends on various parameters such as load, rpm, sliding distance and the amount of
reinforcement[11,12].Most of the breakdowns occurring in machines is due to wear of the
components.[13,14]. A very different mechanisms was observed when Al6061-Al2O3 composites were
made to undergo dry sliding wear test [15].Also the wear rate of Al6061-SiC composites is effected by
temperature and load. Reports suggest that Al6061-SiC composites will have less wear rate on increase
in load [16]. On performing the wear test on composite of Al6061 and short fibre saffil fillings it was
found that these have increasing wear resistance [17]. From the publications it is evident that the MMCs
having 15% of SiC particulates as reinforcement and fabricated using powder metallurgy technique have
good wear resistance [18]. The wear of a composite is immensely effected by the microstructure, sliding
distance, sliding speed and the load applied. For Al2219-SiC composites it was observed that wear and
the cracking of SiC particles increased with the increase in the load applied [19]. The factors like sliding
wear are the reasons for maximum wear of the composite when subjected to different loads and speeds
[20]. When dry sliding is performed, due to the rise in the temperature of Al6061 alloy there is a change
in wear rate from slight to severe [21]. Investigation of properties of Al6061-Albite and Al6061-
Graphite concluded that with the rise in the percentage of the Gr filler the properties like elongation,
modulus and strength increased whereas hardness decreased. Also with the increase in the Albite
percentage in Al6061-Albite composite lead to the increase in hardness and reduction in the ductility
[22]. This paper’s main objective is to fabricate an Al6061 alloy containing nano ZrO2 nano powder as
reinforcement. Further it also includes the investigation of physical, mechanical and tribological
properties of the composite through various test. This paper even studies the type of wear and facture
occurring in the specimens.

2. Fabrication and Investigational details of MMCs

2.1 Details of matrix and reinforcement materials
The matrix material being Al6061 alloy was brought in Hassan district, Karnataka. The alloy is in the form of
ingots. The table 1 below represents the composition of Al6061 alloy. The reinforcement material selected was
ZrO2 powder and its size is 200nm. This nano powder was purchased from Triveni chemicals, Gujarat. Table 2
below represents the properties of the reinforcement.

Table 1. Al6061 alloy chemical composition by weight percentage

Chemical composition Al6061

Si 0.62
Fe 0.23
Cu 0.22
Mn 0.03
Mg 0.84
Cr 0.22
Zn 0.10
Ti 0.01
Al Bal

.
 Table 2. The base matrix and reinforcement materials properties.
Material Density Hardness Tensile Strength
(g/cc) (HB500) (MPa)

Al6061 2.7 30 115

ZrO2 5.68 5500# 5200**

#
Hardness (Knoop), * Kg/mm2; ** Compressive Strength.

2.2 Fabrication of MMCs

As liquid metallurgy technique is very economical and enables us to fabricated composites with uniform
distribution it has been chosen. Stir casting method of liquid metallurgy was used to fabricate the composite. The
ingots of Al6061 alloy were put into the crucible of a furnace and were heated to about 7100 C. After obtaining the
alloy in its molten form catalyst such as Magnesium chips, Hexachloroethane tablets (degasing tablets), Coverall
were added in order to increase wettability, remove gases from the molten alloy and to form a layer between
atmosphere and molten material respectively. An inclined stirrer made of graphite was used to stir the molten
material at a constant speed of 400rpm. Now ZrO2 nano powder was wrapped into Aluminium foils and was
preheated to 350 0 C using a muffle furnace, before adding it to the vortex formed due to stirring. The stirring was
done for 10 minutes to ensure uniform distribution of the reinforcement. After this the molten material was then
transferred into a mold box of 150mm length and 25 mm diameter. Four casts were obtained by adding different
percentages (0% to 6%) of ZrO2 powder.

2.3 Experimental details

The casts obtained using stir casting were machined using lathe machine to the required specifications
as per ASTM standards. The test samples were then used for the investigation of properties like
microstructure, hardness, density, tensile strength, wear resistance. The density was found out using rule
of mixtures formula and the values were compared with those of the practical values. A metallurgical
microscope made in japan (NIKHON model 150 ECLIPSE) was used to get 100x, 200x and 500x
magnification images of the specimens. Hardness test is done using a MRB 250 Brinell’s hardness
testing machine. The percentage elongation and the tensile strength of the specimen was found using a
tensometer. The specimens for tensile test were machined according to ASTM E8 M15.a standards. Pin
on disc tribometer was used to find the wear rate of the composite on application of three different loads
namely 10N, 20N and 30N. Cylindrical specimens used were dimensioned to be 10mm X 10mm
diameter and height. These specimens were made to slide against EN 31 steel counter disc having
hardness of 60 HRC. The composites cylinder-shaped 10 X 10 mm diameter and height, EN31 steel
counter disc of hardness 60 HRC was adopted. The wear height loss is recorded for every 30 sec in order
to plot a graph between volumetric wear loss and sliding distance. The disc is rotated at a constant speed
of 500rpm and the sliding distance was 2.5 km. The SEM images of the worn surfaces and the fractured
specimens were taken in order to study the type of wear occurring and the type of fracture.

3. Results and discussions

3.1 Microstructure images

Figures 2 a, 2 b, 2 c and 2 d depict the optical images of Al6061-2%ZrO2, Al6061-4%ZrO2 and Al6061-
6%ZrO2 MMCs respectively. We can infer from the images that the grain boundaries are in the form of
dendrite regions. These dendrite regions represent that there is a uniform distribution of the
reinforcements. From the images it is evident that off the four composites fabricated Al6061-6%ZrO2
has more dendrite regions because of the presence of more amount of reinforcements.
 a. Microstructure of Al6061 b. Al6061-2% ZrO2 MMCs

c. Al6061-4% ZrO2 MMCs d. Al6061-6%ZrO2 MMCs

3.1 Density of Al6061-ZrO2 MMCs

Density
2.9
Rule of
2.85 2.878
mixtures
2.852
2.8
Density(g/cc)

2.819
2.75 2.788
2.759
2.7 2.724
2.7
2.65 2.68
2.6
2.55
0% 2% 4% 6%
Percentage reinforcement
 Figure 2. Graph comparing rule of mixture and weight to volume ratio densities of Al6061-ZrO2 MMCs.

The theoritical densities for different compositions were calculated using rule of mixtures formula and
practical densities were calculated using weight to volume ratio formula. Both theoritical density and
practical density values were compared in the bar graph shown in figure 2. From the graph it is evident
that the theoritical density is greater than that of practical density. This may be due to the presence of
casting defects. However, in both the cases the density was found to increase as the percentage of ZrO2
(reinforcement) increases. This increase in the density is due to the addition of high density
reinforcement(5.68g/cc). it was even confirmed from the figure that the density of MMCs was greater
than that of the metal matrix material (Al6061 alloy) [23].

3.3 Hardness of Al6061-ZrO2 MMCs

The hardness of the composite was found using Brinell’s hardness testing machine. The hardness was
done based on ASTM E10-07a standards. A load of 250N was applied for finding the hardness of the
composites. Figure 3 below shows the increase in the hardness with the increase in the percentage of
reinforcement from 0% to 6%. It is evident from the bar graph that the hardness of Al6061-Zr02
composite is higher compared to that of the matrix material alone. The increase in hardness is directly
proportional to the increase in the increase in the density. From figure 3 it is evident that the hardness
of the MMCs increased by 39.88% as the percentage of reinforcement is raised from 0 % to 6%.
Brinell Hardness
80
67.8
70 64.6
61.5
60
Hardness (BHN)

50
40.76
40
30
20
10
0
0% 2% 4% 6%
Percentage of reinforcement

Figure 3. Variation of hardness of Al6061-ZrO2 MMCs with increasing percentage of reinforcement.

3.4 ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTH (UTS) OF AL6061-ZRO2 MMCS

Tensile test of the specimen was found out using tensometer. The specimens used for tensile test were
machined to the required dimensions using a lathe. The dimensions of the tensile specimen were taken
according to ASTM E8- M15a standards. The increase in the tensile strength of the specimen with the
increase in the percentage of reinforcement is depicted in the figure 4. The testing was done at room
temperature and was observed that the results were similar to the studies made by the investigators [24].
Results of the tensile test stated that the tensile strength of the specimen increased by 47.13% with the
increase in the percentage of reinforcement is varied from 0% to 6%. The rise in the tensile strength is
also a result of increase in density.
 TENSILE STRENGTH
200
174.9
180
Tensile strength (MPa)

160 148.1
140 121.3
120
100 92.14
80
60
40
20
0
0% 2% 4% 6%
Percentage of reinforcement

Figure 4. Results of tensile test on Al6061 and its MMCs with increase in the percentage of reinforcement.

3.5 DUCTILITY OF AL6061-ZRO2 MMCS

All the properties of the material gradually increase with the increase in the amount of reinforcement
but ductility decreased with the increase in the reinforcement. Figure 5 shows the decrease in the
percentage elongation of the MMCs as the reinforcement was increased from 0% to 6%. This decrease
in the ductility is due to the increase in the hardness. It was concluded from the results that the percentage
elongation of the MMCs reduced by 50.2% as the percentage of reinforcement is increased from 0% to
6 %. These results were similar to those obtained by many researchers [25, 26].
PERCENTAGE ELONGATION
12
9.84
10
7.74
% Elongation

8
6.32
6 4.9
4

0
0% 2% 4% 6%
Percentage of reinforcement

Figure 5. Al6061 and its MMCs percentage elongation with increase in percentage with the increase in the
reinforcement.
3.6 DRY SLIDING WEAR STUDIES OF AL6061-ZRO2 MMCS

The wear resistance of the MMCs was investigated using pin on disc tribometer. Many experiments
were conducted on Al-MMCs to find out the wear properties of these composites and many reports were
submitted regarding these in the past 25 years. In this paper the dry sliding wear test is performed on the
MMCs at room temperature. The standards followed for this test were ASTM-G99 standards. The
sliding velocity is kept constant which is equal to 3.14ms-1.

The results from the wear test were used to plot the graphs between volumetric wear loss and sliding
distance on application of three different loads namely 10N, 20N and 30N. The figures 6 a-d represents
the volumetric loss occurring at different sliding distance when three different loads are applied. From
the figures it was concluded that the volumetric wear increases with the increase in the sliding distance.
This is because as the sliding distance increases there was a change in the frictional force which caused
a rise in temperature of the MMCs. As the temperature increased the material gets softer and thus
resulted in the increased volumetric wear loss. In Figure 6 a, on application of 10N load the volumetric
wear loss decreased gradually with the increase in the amount of the reinforcement. This suggests that
there is an increase in the hardness. Similarly Figures 6 b and 6 c represent the same for 20N and 30N
loads.as the hardness increases the resistance to wear also increases [27]. Load is a very important factor
that decides the wear rate of Al6061 and its composites [28]. On comparing the three graphs it was
concluded that there will be an increase in the wear rate as the load is increased from 10N to 30N. These
enhanced wear properties of Al6061-ZrO2 MMCs is due their increase in hardness on addition of
reinforcement.

(a)
 (b)

(c)
Figure 6 a-c. The volumetric loss vs sliding distance graphs for 10N, 20N and 30N loads.

4. Conclusions on the studies on Al6061 and ZrO2 Composites

The Al6061-ZrO2 MMCs were successfully fabricated using stir casting technique. Excellent dendrite
regions were observed in the optical micrographs of all the MMCs with compositions 0%, 2%, 4% and
6%. Density of the composites increased gradually as the percentage of reinforcement increased from 0
to 6%. It was clear from the results that the tensile strength of MMCs also increased as the percentage
of reinforcement is increased. Al6061-ZrO2 MMC was found to have higher tensile strength among the
four MMCs. Wear test results suggest that the wear resistance of the MMCs increased as the amount of
the reinforcement increased. The wear rate increased in all the MMCs with the increase in the sliding
distance. The addition of ZrO2 reinforcement increased all the properties except ductility. The ductility
of the MMCs were found to decrease as percentage of the reinforcement increases.
Acknowledgements
The writers apprise their appreciation to the organization of Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita
Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amrita University Bengaluru Campus, Bengaluru for their motivation and
backing throughout the investigation studies.

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