Lightweight aluminum composite is a class of foam material that finds many applications. These properties make it suitable for many industries, such as the transportation, aerospace and sports industries. In the present work, closed-cell foams of an Al-Si12CuFe alloy and its composite are developed by a stir casting process. The optimization of the foaming temperature for the alloy and composite foams was conducted in terms of the ligament and node size of the alloy and also the volatility of the zircon with the melt, to provide strength to the cell walls. CaCO3 as a blowing agent was homogeneously distributed in the molten metal without adding any thickener to develop the metal foam. The decomposition rate of CaCO3 is temperature-dependent, which is attributed to the formation of gas bubbles in the molten alloy. Cell structure, such as cell size and cell wall thickness, is controlled by manufacturing process parameters, and both the physical and mechanical properties are dependent on the foam cell structure, with cell size being the major variable. The results show that the increase in cell wall thickness with higher temperature leads to a decrease in cell size. By adding the zircon to the melt, the cell size of the composite foam first increases, and then the thickening of the wall occurs as the temperature is increased. The uniform distribution of the blowing agent in molten metal helps in the formation of a uniform cell structure. In this work, a comparative structural study of alloy foam and composite foam is presented regarding cell size, cell shape and foam stability at different temperatures.
To meet the global requirements of the industry, there is a need for innovative light weight, low cost, eco-friendly, high quality engineering materials with superior performance at a wide range of temperatures. Aluminum Matrix Composites (AMCs) are lightweight materials with isotropic properties, a suitable choice for modern industry. Low-cost aluminum alloys reinforced with minerals have found a special place in the automotive industry for the manufacture of automobile parts. Rutile particles improve the mechanical properties of the aluminum matrix, making it attractive for structural applications as well as providing greater wear resistance to the composite during sliding. In the present studies, a rutile mineral reinforced LM27 aluminum alloy composite was developed through a stir casting route with 6, 9 and 12 wt.% reinforcements. To study the effect of particle size on the mechanical and tribological properties of composite samples reinforced with fine-sized (50–75 μm) and coarse-sized (106–125 μm) rutile particles were prepared From the results of the experiment, it was found that the hardness, compressive strength and wear resistance increase with increasing rutile wt.% addition. The worn surface and re-groove of the new surface are restored during sliding with the help of oxide films. The analysis of the fractured surface clearly indicates with the help of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) that with the increase in the volume fraction of the reinforced particles, the porosity increases, which could be the main reason for the compression failure of the composite material.
In this study, the influence of the in-situ tribo-oxide-layer on non-lubricated tribological behaviours of LM27/SiC p composites was studied at different applied loads. For this purpose, LM27/SiC p composites were manufactured by stir casting route with reinforcement of different amounts (3-12 wt.%) and different sizes (fine: 1-20 µm and coarse: 106-125 µm) of SiC p . A comprehensive characterization of the friction and wear mechanisms ranging from mild to severe wear for oxidative and delamination at a contact pressure of 0.125-0.624 MPa was discussed. Results indicate that the friction and wear behaviour is strongly influenced by the morphology and the nature of the oxide scale on the wear track. In-situ formation of oxide layers on the contact region of the specimen supports the selflubrication which supports better wear performance of LM27/SiC p composites. However, these study portraits that composite with 12wt. % fine size SiC p exhibits better wear performance in comparison to the other developed composites.
Metal matrix composites are an important class of material that is developing rapidly to fulfil the diversified engineering requirements. The metal matrix composites are attractive owing to superior properties as compared to monolithic material. Their properties are dependent on various factors and fabrication techniques. The metal matrix composites are associated with several issues which hinder their full potential. In the present study friction stir processing is applied on the metal matrix composite as a post-processing operation. The friction stir processing offers many advantages owing to the solid-state nature of the processing. Stir cast metal matrix composites are prepared by using zircon sand particles of 50 µm in the matrix of LM13 aluminium alloy. The friction stir processing is applied on the metal matrix plates at a constant rotational speed and traverse speed of 1400 rpm and 63 mm/min, respectively. Multiple passes of friction stir processing are applied to elucidate the effect of the number of passes on microstructural modification. Microstructural examination showed a significant improvement in eutectic silicon morphology and distribution of zircon sand particles. A more than 5 times reduction as compared to the initial size was observed in the zircon sand particles after four passes of friction stir processing. The processed metal matrix composite also exhibits improvement in tensile strength and hardness.
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