Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Influence of preheating temperatures and adding rates on distributions of fly ash in aluminum matrix composites prepared by stir casting

  • Published:
International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A new testing method, dubbed Mold Immersed Rapid Solidification (MIRS), is proposed to investigate the distribution of fly ash particles in ADC6+5wt.% fly ash composites prepared by stir casting. In preparing the composite slurries, the fly ash was preheated at different temperatures, namely 400°C, 500°C, 600°C, 660°C, 700°C and 800°C, and then added into ADC6 melt at different flow rates, namely 0.10 g/s, 0.15 g/s, and 0.2 g/s. The stirring speed and melt temperature were respectively fixed at 300 rpm and 700°C. Optical micrographs reveal that MIRS effectively locks the position of fly ash, allowing investigations of particle dispersibility in the matrix. Further, both hardness and density tests were used to investigate the uniformity of the fly ash distributions in the composites. The experimental results show that higher preheating temperature and lower adding rate of fly ash diminish or avoid porosity induced by particle clustering in the matrix, leading better chemical reactions between fly ash and aluminum melt. The lowest porosity content of 1.04% and the highest Brinell hardness number were obtained in this study with fly ash preheated at 800°C and added at 0.10 g/s. This represents a 20.7% increase in BHN compared with raw ADC6

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ρ theoretical :

theoretical density

ρ measured :

measured density

ρ matrix :

density of matrix

ρ fly ash :

density of fly ash

W matrix :

weight percentage of matrix

W fly ash :

weight percentage of fly ash

V porosity :

porosity content of the composite

References

  1. Rohatgi, P. K., “Synthesis of Metal Matrix Composites Containing Flyash, Graphite, Glass, Ceramics or Other Metals,” US Patent No. 5228494, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Guo, R. Q. and Rohatgi, P. K., “Chemical Reactions between Aluminum and Fly Ash during Synthesis and Reheating of Al Fly Ash Composite,” Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, Vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 519–525, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hwang, J. Y., “Beneficial Use of Fly Ash,” http://www.netl.doe.gov/ublications/proceedings/99/99korea/hwang.pdf (Accessed 4 JUN 2015)

  4. Surappa, M. K., “Dry Sliding Wear of Fly Ash Particle Reinforced A356 Al Composites,” Wear, vol. 265, no. 3–4, pp. 349–360, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hrairi, M., Ahmed, M., and Nimir, Y., “Compaction of Fly Ash-Aluminum Alloy Composites and Evaluation of Their Mechanical and Acoustic Properties,” Advanced Powder Technology, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 548–553, 2009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Rohatgi, P. K., “Applications of Fly Ash in Synthesizing Low Cost Metal Matrix Composites for Automotive and Other Engineering Applications,” JOM, vol. 58, no. 11, pp. 71–76, 2006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Rohatgi, P. K., Gupta, N., and Simon Alaraj., “Thermal Expansion of Aluminum-Fly Ash Cenosphere Composites Synthesized by Pressure Infiltration Technique,” Journal of Composite Materials, vol. 40, no. 13, pp. 1163–1174, 2006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hashim, J., Looney, L., and Hashmi, M. S. J., “The Enhancement of Wettability of SiC Particles in Cast Aluminum Matrix Composites,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol.119, No.1–3, pp. 329–335, 2001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hashim, J., Looney, L., and Hashmi, M. S. J., “Particle Distribution in Cast Metal Matrix Composites Part I,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 123, no. 2, pp. 251–257, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hashim, J., Looney, L., and Hashmi, M. S. J., “Particle Distribution in Cast Metal Matrix Composites Part II,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 123, no. 2, pp. 258–263, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ahmad, S. N., Hashim, J., and Ghazali, M. I., “The Effects of Porosity on Mechanical Properties of Cast Discontinuous Reinforced Metal-Matrix Composite,” Journal of Composite Materials, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 451–466, 2005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Prabu, S. B., Karunamoorthy, L., Kathiresan, S., and Mohan, B., “Influence of Stirring Speed and Stirring Time on Distribution of Particles in Cast Metal Matrix Composite,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 171, no. 2, pp. 268–273, 2006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Aldas, K. and Matb, M. D., “Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Particle Distribution in Particulate Metal Matrix Composites,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 160, no. 3, pp. 289–295, 2005..

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Murthy, I. N., Rao, D. V., and Rao, J. B., “Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Aluminum-Fly Ash Nano Composites Made by Ultrasonic Method,” Materials & Design, vol. 35, pp. 55–65, 2012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Sarkar, S., Sen, S., Mishra, S. C., Kudelwar, M. K., and Mohan, S., “Studies on Aluminum-Fly Ash Composite Produced by Impeller Mixing,” Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 144–148, 2010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Naher, S., Brabazon, D., and Looney, L., “Simulation of the Stir Casting Process,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 143–144, pp. 567–571, 2003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Amirkhanlou, S. and Niroumand, B., “Synthesis and Characterization of 356-SiCp Composites by Stir Casting and Compocasting Methods,” Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, vol. 20, pp. s788–s793, 2010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Mahendra, K. V. and Radhakrishna, K., “Characterization of Stir Cast Al-Cu-(Fly Ash + SiC) Hybrid Metal Matrix Composites,” Journal of Composite Materials, vol. 44, no. 8, pp. 989–1005, 2010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Rao, J. B., Rao, D. V., Murthy I. N., and Bhargava, N., “Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Behaviour of Fly Ash Particles Reinforced AA 2024 Composites,” Journal of Composite Materials, vol. 46, no. 12, pp. 1393–1404, 2012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. van Vugt, L. and Froyen, L., “Gravity and Temperature Effects on Particle Distribution in Al Si SiC Composites,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 104, no. 1–2, pp. 133–144, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Guo, R. Q., Venugopalan, D., and Rohatgi, P. K., “Differential Thermal Analysis to Establish the Stability of Aluminum-Fly Ash Composites during Synthesis and Reheating,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, vol. 241, no. 1–2, pp. 184–190, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Surappa, M., “Synthesis of Fly Ash Particle Reinforced A356 Al Composites and their Characterization,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, vol. 480, no. 1, pp. 117–124, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2, Pei-Ning Rd., Keelung, 20224, Taiwan

    Shueiwan H. Juang, Liang-Jing Fan & Hung Po Ou Yang

Authors
  1. Shueiwan H. Juang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Liang-Jing Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hung Po Ou Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shueiwan H. Juang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Juang, S.H., Fan, LJ. & Yang, H.P.O. Influence of preheating temperatures and adding rates on distributions of fly ash in aluminum matrix composites prepared by stir casting. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 16, 1321–1327 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-015-0173-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-015-0173-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation