An Investigation into some Mechanical and Metallurgical Properties of Stainless Steel Reinforced Aluminium Alloy Powder Compacts

An experimental investigation into uniaxial tension and transverse bending of thin rectangular sheets made of stainless steel wire mesh and microcable reinforced sintered 6061 aluminium alloy powder compacts was made in order to determine some of their mechanical and metallurgical properties. Theoretical predictions based on the rule of mixtures were made for the ultimate tensile strength and for the Youngs modulus and were compared with the experimental results. Metallographic analysis involved optical and SEM photography on selected specimens and also an "EDAX" analysis on the intermetallic phase formed between the matrix and the reinforcement in order to establish its composition. In general, it was observed that the introduction of the stainless steel reinforcement resulted in extra strength of the reinforced material compared to that based on the net density of the combination.