MECHANICAL CHARACTERISATION AND METALLOGRAPHY OF SiO2 PARTICULATE REINFORCED ALUMINA MATRIX COMPOSITE PROCESSED BY POWDER METALLURGY

Abstract

Metal matrix composite has a wide variety of applications in field of aerospace industry, automotive and military application. This paper focuses on developing a new composite and characterization for determining the mechanical properties of composite. SiO₂ particulate reinforced alumina matrix composite is to be developed by combining alumina as matrix and SiO₂ as reinforcement phase with help of poly vinyl alcohol as binder. Compaction pressure and sintering temperature is varied to obtain desirable properties for a good mixture of matrix and reinforcement phase. Different samples are tested for hardness & metallography.

Keywords:composite; alumina; characterization; reinforcement; powder metallurgy; matrix; compaction; sintering.