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Mechanical and Wear Behavior of Al-Si5Cu3/ZrB2 In-Situ Reinforced Metal Matrix Composite

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Abstract

In this study, the in-situ ZrB2/Al-Si5Cu3 aluminum alloy composites were fabricated through the salt-melt reaction route with different weight fractions of ZrB2 reinforcements, i.e., 2.5%, 5%, and 7.5%. The composites were tested for their density, hardness, tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength, and wear properties. The influence of reinforcement on the properties was studied concerning the wt.% of reinforcement. The increase in density of composites compared to the matrix material confirms the formation of the in-situ reinforcement phase. The microstructure showed a desirable distribution of reinforced particles over the matrix at all weight fractions of the reinforcements in the composites. The ZrB2 particles formed in the matrix have particle sizes in the range from 255 nm to 955 nm and the grain size has been reduced from 242 microns to 110 microns as the result of particle-induced solidification. The hardness of the composites containing ZrB2 reinforcements of 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt.% showed improvement by 8%, 17.5%, and 34% respectively compared to the parent alloy. There is an improvement in the tensile strength and elongation for the wt.% of ZrB2 up to 5 wt.%, from 115 MPa to 183 MPa, after which, there was a drop in the tensile strength. The detailed analysis of tensile fractography shows that the agglomerated ZrB2 reinforced particles at higher weight fractions lead to a decrease in strength. The results of flexural strength also affirm the strength of 5 wt.% ZrB2/Al-Si5Cu3 increased from the matrix material’s flexural strength of 337 MPa to 672 MPa. The wear study shows that the composite with 7.5 wt.% ZrB2 possesses a higher wear resistance. However, the impact strength did not show any differences in the weight % of reinforcement.

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Acknowledgement

One of the authors J. Jenix Rino would like to acknowledge the University Grand Commission of India for financially supporting the research by providing Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF-2013-14-CHR-TAM-30573).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stella Mary’s College of Engineering, Ganapathipuram, Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu, India

    J. Jenix Rino

  2. Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan College of Engineering and Technology, Mamallapuram, India

    A. S. Vivekananda

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, St. Joseph’s Institute of Technology, Chennai, India

    N. Thangapandian

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, Chennai, India

    Balasivanandha Prabu Shanmugavel

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  1. J. Jenix Rino
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Rino, J.J., Vivekananda, A.S., Thangapandian, N. et al. Mechanical and Wear Behavior of Al-Si5Cu3/ZrB2 In-Situ Reinforced Metal Matrix Composite. Inter Metalcast (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-024-01349-x

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