Abstract
Development and application of metal matrix composite materials and increased application of calculations, simulations and modeling in the area of semi-solid solidification ask for the knowledge of compocasting for these materials. In this study, a self-organizing hierarchical particle swarm optimizer is implemented for computational modeling and optimization of the compocast high strength and highly uniform Al matrix composites. The matrix of the composite was a 6061 Al alloy and the reinforcement was alumina particle (Al2O3p). Experimental results were obtained for hardness, tensile and fatigue properties of the Al alloys with different vol.% of micro-particles. The tensile strength of the composites increased considerably by increasing the reduction ratio in the cold rolling process. It is observed that the presence of reinforcement in the Al alloy degrades the low-cycle fatigue property when the Al matrix composites are subject to strain-controlled cyclic loading. The method combines position update rules, the standard velocity and the strengths of particle swarm optimization with the ideas of selection, crossover and mutation from GA.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.











References
Omkar SN, Rahul K, Ananth TVS, Naik GN, Gopalakrishnan S (2009) Quantum behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) for multi-objective design optimization of composite structures. Expert Sys Appl 36:11312–11322
Shabani MO, Mazahery A (2011) The ANN application in FEM modeling of mechanical properties of Al–Si alloy. Appl Math Model 35:5707–5713
Beasley D, Bull DR, Martin RR (1993) A sequential niching technique for multimodal function optimization. Evolut Comput 1(2):101–125
Coelho L d S, Alotto P (2008) Global optimization of electromagnetic devices using an exponential quantum-behaved particle swarm optimizer. IEEE Trans Magnet 44:1074–1077
Mazahery A, Shabani MO (2012) Process conditions optimization in Al–Cu alloy matrix composites. Powder Technol 225:101–106
Krohling RA, Mendel E (2009) Bare bones particle swarm optimization with Gaussian or cauchy jumps. IEEE Cong Evol Comput CEC’09:3285–3291
Mazahery A, Shabani MO (2011) The accuracy of various training algorithms in tribological behavior modeling of A356–B4C composites. Russ Metall (Metally) 7:699–707
Shabani MO, Mazahery A (2012) The performance of various artificial neurons interconnections in the modelling and experimental manufacturing of the composits. Materiali in tehnologije 46(2):109–113
Brits R (2002) Niching strategies for particle swarm optimization. In: Master’s thesis. Department of Computer Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Kennedy J, Eberhart RC (1995) Particle swarm optimization. In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks, vol. IV, Perth, Australia, 1942–1948
Kennedy J (1999) Small worlds and mega-minds: effects of neighborhood topology on particle swarm performance. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 1931–1938
Engelbrecht AP, Masiye BS, Pampara G (2005) Niching ability of basic particle swarm optimization algorithms. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Swarm Intelligence Symposium
Mazahery A, Shabani MO (2012) Nano-sized silicon carbide reinforced commercial casting aluminum alloy matrix: experimental and novel modeling evaluation. Powder Technol 217:558–565
Kennedy J, Mendes R (2002) Topological structure and particle swarm performance. In: Fogel DB, Yao X, Greenwood G, Iba H, Marrow P, Shackleton M (eds) Proceeding of 4th Congr. Evolutionary Computation (CEC- 2002), Honolulu, HI, pp 1671–1676
van den Bergh F, Engelbrecht AP (2006) A study of particle swarm optimization particle trajectories. Inform Sci 176(8):937–971
Kennedy J, Eberhart RC (2001) Swarm intelligence, Morgan Kaufman, Burlington
Shabani MO, Mazahery A (2012) Application of finite element model and artificial neural network in characterization of Al matrix nanocomposites using various training algorithms. Metall Mater Trans A 43:2158–2165
Quaak CJ, Kool WH (1994) Properties of semisolid aluminium matrix composites. Mater Sci Eng A 188:277–282
Hashim J, Looney L, Hashmi MSJ (2002) Particle distribution in cast metal matrix composites. Part I. J Mater Process Technol 123:251–257
Mazahery A, Shabani MO (2012) Tribological behaviour of semisolid–semisolid compocast Al–Si matrix composites reinforced with TiB2 coated B4C particulates. Ceram Int 38:1887–1895
Lim SC, Gupta M, Ren L, Kwok JKM (1999) The tribological properties of Al–Cu/SiCp metal–matrix composites fabricated using the rheocasting technique. J Mater Process Technol 89(90):591–596
Shabani MO, Mazahery A (2012) Artificial intelligence in numerical modeling of nano sized ceramic particulates reinforced metal matrix composites. Appl Math Model 36:5455–5465
Mazahery A, Shabani MO (2011) Investigation on mechanical properties of nano-Al2O3-reinforced aluminum matrix composites. J Compos Mater 45:2579–2586
Vugt LV, Froyen L (2000) Gravity and temperature effects on particle distribution in Al–Si/SiCp composites. J Mater Process Technol 104:133–144
Irons GA, Owusu-Boahen K (1995) Settling and clustering of silicon carbide particles in aluminium metal matrix composites. Metall Mater Trans B 26:980–981
Mazahery A, Shabani MO (2012) A comparative study on abrasive wear behavior of semisolid–liquid processed Al–Si matrix reinforced with coated B4C reinforcement. Trans Indian Inst Met 65(2):145–154
Shabani MO, Mazahery A (2012) Optimization of process conditions in casting aluminum matrix composites via interconnection of artificial neurons and progressive solutions. Ceram Int 38:4541–4547
Karnezis PA, Durrant G, Cantor B (1998) Characterization of reinforcement distribution in cast Al-alloy/SiC composites. Mater Charact 40:97–109
Shabani MO, Mazahery A (2011) Microstructural prediction of cast A356 alloy as a function of cooling rate. JOM 63:132–316
Parrott D, Li X (2006) Locating and tracking multiple dynamic optima by a particle swarm model using speciation. IEEE Trans Evol Comput 10(4):440–457
Mazahery A, Shabani MO (2012) Influence of the hard coated B4C particulates on wear resistance of Al–Cu alloys. Compos Part B 43:1302–1308
Sathiya P, Aravindan S, Haq AN, Paneerselvam K (2009) Optimization of friction welding parameters using evolutionary computational techniques, J Mater Process Technol (209):2576–2584
Shabani MO, Mazahery A (2011) Prediction of mechanical properties of cast A356 alloy as a function of microstructure and cooling rate. Arch Metall Mater 56:671–675
Mazahery A, Shabani MO (2012) A356 reinforced with nano particles: numerical analysis of mechanical properties. JOM 64(2):323–329
Gowri S, Samuel FH (1992) Effect of cooling rate on the solidification behavior of Al-7 Pct Si–SiC p metal-matrix composites. Metall Trans A 23:3369–3376
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shabani, M.O., Mazahery, A. Searching for a novel optimization strategy in tensile and fatigue properties of alumina particulates reinforced aluminum matrix composite. Engineering with Computers 30, 559–568 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00366-012-0299-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00366-012-0299-1
Keywords
- Optimization
- Metal matrix
- Microstructure