Studies on Mechanical Properties of Al6061-Al2O3 Composites

Bharath V*, Madeva Nagaral** and V. Auradi***

*M.Tech Student, **Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, ***Assistant Professor, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur-572102, Karnataka, India Email:vsauradi@gmail.com, Ph.No.9844386037

ABSTRACT
Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have been developed to meet the demand for lighter materials with high specific strength, stiffness and wear resistance. Among Metal matrix composites particulate reinforced aluminium matrix composites are attractive due to significant improvements in mechanical and physical properties like such as superior strength to weight ratio, good ductility, high strength and high modulus, low thermal expansion coefficient, excellent wear resistance, excellent corrosion resistance, high temperature creep resistance and better fatigue strength. AMMCs find wide applications in aerospace, automobiles and marine sectors etc. The mechanical properties of aluminium matrix composites are strongly dependent on microstructural parameters like shape, size, volume fraction and distribution of reinforcement particles which have to be carefully chosen. Therefore, judicious selection of the variables is important to optimize the properties of the composites. In this present work, metal matrix composites with 6061Al as matrix and Al2O3 particulates were produced with varying amount of alumina particles and were fabricated by stir casting process. Above prepared composites are subjected to the mechanical testing as per the ASTM standards. The investigation reveals that there is a significant improvement in the mechanical properties of the composite. The tensile strength and hardness were found to increase with the increase in the wt% of Al2O3 reinforcement.

Keywords: 6061Al, Al2O3 Particle, MMCs, Mechanical properties

1. INTRODUCTION
Al alloy 6061 is widely used in numerous engineering applications including transport and construction where superior mechanical properties such as tensile, strength, hardness etc., are essentially required [1]. Alumina particulate reinforced aluminium composites possess a unique combination of high specific strength, high elastic modulus, good wear resistance and good thermal stability than the corresponding non-reinforced matrix alloy system [2]. Off all the aluminium alloys, Al6061 is quite a popular choice as a matrix material to prepare MMCs owing to its better formability characteristics [4]. Amongst different kinds of the recently developed composites, particle-reinforced metal matrix composites and in particular, aluminium base materials have all ready emerged as candidates for industrial applications. Aluminium alloys are still the subjects of intense studies, as their low density gives additional advantages in several applications. These alloys have started to replace cast iron and bronze, to manufacture wear resistance parts. MMCs reinforced with particles tend to offer enhancement of properties processed by conventional routes [9, 10]

2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
The following section highlights the material, its properties and methods of composite preparation and testing. 2.1. Materials used The matrix material for present study is Al6061. Table 1 gives the chemical composition of 6061Al.Table 2 gives the details of the physical and mechanical properties of 6061Al and Al2O3 the reinforcing material selected was Al2O3 of particle size 125 m. Table.1 Chemical Composition of Al6061 by Wt% Fe Cu Mn Ni Pb Zn Ti Sn Mg

Elements Si
Percentage

Cr

Al

0.43 0.7

0.24 0.139 0.05 0.24 0.25 0.15 0.001 0.802 0.25 Balance

Table.2 Physical and Mechanical Properties of Al6061and Al2O3

Properties
Elastic Modulus (GPa) Density (g/cc)

Al6061
70-80 2.7

Al2O3
300 3.69 0.21

Poissons Ratio 0.33 2.2. Preparation of Composites The liquid metallurgy routes have been adopted to prepare the cast composites as described below. In the present work, the composite will be prepared by liquid metallurgy route with varying amount of reinforcements in a resistance furnace. The furnace temperature was closely maintained to 700c using digital temperature controller with an accuracy of5c. Before casting Al2O3, stirrer, permanent mould, degassing tablet are pre heated for 200C later 6061 Al was placed in graphite crucible and heated to 750C using resistance furnace and the matrix Al 6061 of 200gm had reinforced with the 6 Wt% of Al2O3 of 125m size and during this temperature (i.e.) the micro particles of Al2O3 was added and a constant stirring had done for 15mins until a clear vertex is form. Now, the cover flux (NaCl 45%+ KCl 45% +NaF 10%) was added then at the pouring temperature of 850C the molten mixture was poured into the permanent mould and allowed it to solidify for few mins after complete solidification the prepared composite is with drawl from the mould and then machining the composite according to requirements finally Samples produced are ready for different testing. 2.3. Testing of Composites The cast composites were machined and the specimen for the measurement of hardness as well as for mechanical behavior was prepared as per the ASTM standards. Micro vickers hardness tester was used to measure the hardness. The mechanical properties were evaluated in Advanced Metallurgical Laboratory. Banglore.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The test results of 6061Al and its composites containing Al2O3 at various wt% are presented in these sections. 3.1. Effect of Al2O3on the mechanical properties The mechanical properties such as hardness and tensile strength test results of 6061Al and its composites containing Al2O3 at various wt% are presented in these sections. 3.2. Micro vickers Hardness To study the influence of addition of reinforcement on 6061Al hardness tests were conducted both with and without the addition of Al2O3 particles. Tests were conducted using micro hardness test (Zwick/Roell indentec). The hardness value reported is the average of 30 readings taken over different locations. The change in the hardness of composite with increased content of reinforcement shown in Fig.1 which represents the variation in hardness evaluated for with and without the addition of reinforcement. It is observed that the hardness of Al6061 composites is increased with the addition of the Al2O3 particles. This increase in hardness of the composite may be due to the fact that the reinforcement material is much harder than that of the matrix material [5, 7]. 106 104 102 100 98 VHN 96 104.7

94
92 90

93.67

88
0 % of Al2O3 in 6061Al Fig. 1 Variation in the hardness with different wt% of Al2O3 in 6061Al 6

3.3. Tensile strength From the study of Fig.2 it can be seen that the tensile strength increases with increasing the percentage of Al2O3. From the figure it can be observed that the tensile strength of the composites is higher than that of the matrix alloy. Further, from the graph the trends of the tensile strength can be found to be increased with increase in Al2O3 content in the composites. This improvement in tensile strength of the composites may be attributed to the fact that the fuller Al2O3 possesses higher strength 170 Tensile Strength (MPa) 165 160 155 150 145 140 0 6 149.67 167.93

% of Al2O3 in 6061Al
Fig. 2 variation in the tensile strength with different wt% of Al2O3 in 6061Al

4. CONCLUSIONS
The significant conclusions of the studies carried out on 6061Al- Al2O3composites are as follows. Cast 6061Al-Al2O3 composites were prepared successfully using liquid metallurgy techniques. Hardness of the component found increased with increased Al2O3content. Tensile strength of the composites found increasing with increased reinforcements in the composites.

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