Solid Glass Microspheres Filled Aluminum Alloy Metal Matrix Composite Made Through Stir-Casting Technique

Abstract

Solid Glass Microspheres (SGM) in the range of 10–20 vol. % were used as reinforcement for making aluminium alloy metal matrix composite having density 2.66–2.68 gm/cc using stir-casting technique. Aluminium alloys are not new for synthesizing Metal Matrix Composites (MMC’s), as they have already established their exceptional ability to sketch out the material for required properties where high strength is expected from a low density material. This has made them one of the widely used materials for aeronautics and marine applications where strength and weight are among the major governing factors for the suitability of any material. So, an effort is made to enhance the strength of aluminium alloy LM13 without affecting its lightness, by reinforcing it with Solid Glass Microspheres (SGM). This synthesized composite, is characterized in terms of its density and compressive deformation behaviour. It was observed that the developed composite behaves somewhat like a high strength aluminium foam under compressive deformation as exhibited in the stress–strain curves. The results of density evaluation and compression showed a substantial enhancement in the compressive strength of the developed composite with a considerably low change in density.