Fabrication and characterization of Tensile properties ofaluminium 5083/silicon carbide/fly ash composites for advanced engineering applications

Abstract

The present work includes the fabrication of hybrid Metal Matrix Composite materials by consolidating the attractive traits of Metals, Ceramics and byproducts of combustion in power plants. More often than not, when no less than two reinforcements are introduced into the matrix phase, it is known as a hybrid composite and current research focuses on fabrication and characterization of composite materials. Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites with Silicon carbide reinforcements are finding expanded applications in aviation, automobile and marine industry. In the present work, Aluminum 5083 is utilized as the matrix material into which SiCp and fly ash particles are included as the reinforcements. The results of tensile characterizations carried out on silicon carbide and fly-ash reinforced aluminum composites specimens, prepared by stir casting are presented in this paper. Each set decided for the research work had three kinds of composite specimens with 3, 5 and 7 Wt. % of Silicon carbide and 5 Wt. % of Fly ash content; the weight percentage of fly ash was kept consistent all throughout. A graphite crucible and a die of perpetual shape were utilized to obtain the specimens. The tensile strength and percentage elongation of the specimens were determined using anInstron make UTM. It was discovered that the tensile strength of aluminum alloy (Al 5083) composites increased with the increment in weight fraction of reinforced silicon carbide up to 5% and reduced further with additional increment in weight percentage of silicon carbide, while the percentage elongation decreased with the increase in weight percentage of silicon carbide up to 5%, beyond which it increased due to the porosity in the composite specimens by the addition of reinforcements.

Keywords: Aluminum 5083, Fly ash, Hybrid, Metal, Matrix, Composites, Mechanical properties, Silicon Carbide (SiCp).