Compressive Property and Nano-mechanical Behavior of Aluminium Cenosphere Composite Foam Developed by Powder Metallurgy Route

Abstract

In the present study, the mechanical properties in terms of nano and microhardness and compressive strength of aluminium cenosphere composite foam (CF) developed by powder metallurgy route was carried out. The CF was developed under a varied compaction pressure between 125 MPa and 375 MPa, and sintered by two step sintering (step 1: heating at 400 ºC for 1 hrs. and step 2: heating at 700ºC for 2 hrs.) with a cenosphere content varying from 5 vol.% to 50 vol.%. The effect of process parameters and cenosphere content on microstructure, porosity and its distribution, microhardness and nano mechanical properties was undertaken. Finally, the compressive behavior of the Al-cenosphere composite foam processed under varied compaction pressure and with varied cenosphere content was evaluated.