INVESTIGATION OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF ALUMINUM BASED PARTICLE REINFORCED HYBRID COMPOSITE MANUFACTURED BY STIR CASTING

PATEL V.A.¹, PANCHAL V.G.², PATEL B.B.³, PATEL K.M.^4
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sankalchand Patel College of Engineering, Visnagar- 384 315, Gujarat, India.
²Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sankalchand Patel College of Engineering, Visnagar- 384 315, Gujarat, India.
³Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sankalchand Patel College of Engineering, Visnagar- 384 315, Gujarat, India.
⁴Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad- 382 481, Gujarat, India.

Received : 31-03-2014     Accepted : 15-04-2014     Published : 22-04-2014
Volume : 3     Issue : 1       Pages : 24 - 28
Bioinfo Mech Eng 3.1 (2014):24-28

The preparation and properties of aluminum based hybrid metal matrix composite materials reinforced with silicon carbide (68 μm average size) and Graphite (73 μm average size) in dispersed particles forms are discussed. The composite materials are prepared by stir casting method. Scanning electron microscopy was used for micro structural study. Mechanical properties like hardness, tensile strength and density were estimated for all five samples i.e. pure aluminum, 5wt%SiC, 5%wtSiC + 5wt%Gr, 10wt%SiC + 5wt%Gr and 15wt%SiC + 5wt%Gr composites. Tensile strength and hardness seem to increase with the weight percentages of SiCp. The addition of percentage of graphite as a secondary reinforcement reduces the mechanical strength up to some extent. The density showed an increasing trend with percentage increment in SiC. However, the addition of 5 wt% of graphite decreases the density of composites up to some extent.