Abstract
Present work deals with the synthesis and characterization of Al-Si (7 wt.%) matrix composites reinforced with SiC up to 20 wt.% by the powder processing technique. Cold isostatic compaction was done by reinforcing ceramic material with silicon carbide in different proportions, i.e., x wt.% (x = 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20), sintered at different temperatures (optimized at 650 °C) in a vacuum atmosphere. The phase analysis, microstructure characterization, density measurement, flexural strength, hardness, and wear analysis were done. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) of the composite reveals the emergence of a new phase Al4SiC4 which causes strengthening of the matrix. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) shows the particle size reduced by using ball milling, which helps in densification as well as improvement of mechanical properties. Hardness increased by the addition of silicon carbide particulates in the matrix up to 280% with respect to the base matrix at 20 wt.% addition of SiC. Flexural strength increases by SiC addition in the matrix up to 170% compared to the base alloy at 15% SiC addition. The wear resistance of a 20 wt% SiC reinforced aluminium–silicon (7wt%) based alloy displayed the highest wear resistance. Due to smoother contact surfaces and thicker oxide layer formation, the average coefficient of friction value reduces significantly with the addition of SiC, as well as with greater loads.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Not applicable.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
References
Baradeswaran A (2011) Effect of graphite content on tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy graphite composite. Eur J Sci Res 53:163–170
Karni N, Barkay GB, Bamberger M (1994) Structure and properties of metal-matrix composite. J Mater Sci Lett 13:541–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00540194
Gill RS, Samra PS, Kumar A (2022) Effect of different types of reinforcement on tribological properties of aluminium metal matrix composites (MMCs) – a review of recent studies. Mater Today Proc 56:3094–3101. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MATPR.2021.12.211
Yar AA, Montazerian M, Abdizadeh H, Baharvandi HR (2009) Microstructure and mechanical properties of aluminum alloy matrix composite reinforced with nano-particle MgO. J Alloys Compd 484:400–404. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JALLCOM.2009.04.117
Rai A, Rai P, Kumar V, Singh NK, Singh VK (2021) Development and characterization of Zn(98–x).Mg2. (SiC)x composites synthesized in graphite packed non-oxidizing media. J Mater Eng Perform 30:4291–4299
Swamy ARK, Ramesha A, Veeresh Kumar GB, Prakash JN (2011) Effect of particulate reinforcements on the mechanical properties of Al6061-WC and Al6061-Gr MMCs. J Miner Mater Charact Eng 10(12):1141–1152
Christy TV, Murugan N, Kumar S (2010) A Comparative study on the microstructures and mechanical properties of Al 6061 alloy and the MMC Al 6063/TiB2/12 J Miner Mater Charact Eng 9:57–65
Zhang GJ, Jin ZZ, Yue XM (1995) Reaction synthesis of TiB2-SiC composites from TiH2-Si-B4C. Mater Lett 25:97–100
Sharma SC, Girish BM, Rathnakar Kamath, Satish BM (1997) Effect of SiC particle reinforcement on the unlubricated sliding wear behavior of ZA-27 alloy composites. Wear 213:33–40
Kang YC, Chan SLI (2004) Tensile properties of nanometric Al2O3 particulate-reinforced aluminum matrix composites. Mater Chem Phys 85:438–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MATCHEMPHYS.2004.02.002
Tjong SC, Chen F (1997) Wear behavior of As-cast ZnAl27/SiC particulate metal-matrix composites under lubricated sliding condition. Metall Mater Trans A 28A:1951–1955
Kaynak C, Boylu S (2005) Effects of SiC particulates on the fatigue behavior of an Al-alloy matrix composite. J Mater Des 27:776–782
Vashisth H, Verma L, Jamwal A, Kumar D, Singh N, Sadasivuni KK, Gupta P (2019) Microstructural, mechanical and corrosion behaviour of Al–Si alloy reinforced with SiC metal matrix composite. J Compos Mater 53:4215–4223
Ye H (2003) An overview of the development of Al-Si-alloy based material for engine applications. J Mater Eng Perform 12:288–297
Committee AIH (1990) ASM Handbook: Properties and Selection: Nonferrous Alloys and Special-Purpose Materials (ASM Handbook), vol 2. ASM International
Dey A (2016) PKM Characterization of fly ash and its reinforcement effect on metal matrix composites: a review. Rev Adv Mater Sci 44:168–181
Prasad BK, Modi OP, Khaira HK (2004) High-stress abrasive wear behavior of a zinc-based alloy and its composite compared with a cast iron under varying track radius and load conditions. Mater Sci Eng A 381:343–354
De Vecchis PR, Nettleship I, Chmielus M (2019) Effect of powder size distribution on densification and microstructural evolution of binder-Jet 3D-printed alloy 625. Mater Des 162:375–383
Garcia DE, Klein AN, Hotza D (2012) Advanced ceramics with dense and fine-grained microstructures through fast firing. Rev Adv Mater Sci 30:273–281
Shaw NJ (1989) Densification and coarsening during solid state sintering of ceramics: a review of the models III. Coarsening. Int J Powder Metal 21:25–29
Yamaguchi k, Takakura N, Imatani S (1997) Compaction and sintering characteristics of composite metal powders. J Mater Process Technol 63:364–369
Dong Z, Hu Z, Yan H et al (2019) Solidification behavior and microstructure of Al-7Si alloys with individual and combined additions of Sr and Yb. Adv Mater Sci Eng 2019. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/9750526
Rai A, Rai P, Kumar V, Singh NK, Singh VK (2021) Effect of sintering temperature on the physico mechanical behavior of sic reinforced zinc magnesium based composite. Metals Mater Int 27:3164–3172
Abou Zied M, Ebnalwaled AA (2008) Microstructure and hardness dependence of the pressure of nano-crystalline aluminum. Intermetallics (Barking) 16:745–750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intermet.2008.01.012
Ebnalwaled AA, Abou Zied M (2013) Milling time - dependent microstructure and mechanical properties of nanostructured al-si alloy. Int J Mod Phys B 27. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217979213500367
Woo KD, Zhang DL (2004) Fabrication of Al-7wt%Si-0.4wt%Mg/SiC nanocomposite powders and bulk nanocomposites by high energy ball milling and powder metallurgy. Curr Appl Phys 4:175–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cap.2003.11.002
Holder CF, Schaak RE (2019) Tutorial on powder x-ray diffraction for characterizing nanoscale materials. ACS Nano 13(7):7359–7365. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b05157
Zhou W, Apkarian RP, Wang ZL, Joy DC (2007) Fundamentals of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Scanning Microscopy for Nanotechnology: Techniques and Applications. Springer Science Business Media, New York, pp 1–40
Yao M, Wang D, Zhao M (2015) Element analysis based on energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence. Adv Mater Sci Eng. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/290593
Johnson KL (1970) The correlation of indentation experiments. J Mech Phys Solids 18(2):115–126
He C, Wang W (2009) Alumina doped Ni/YSZ anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells. Fuel Cells 9:630–635
Bandil K, Vashisth H, Kumar S et al (2019) Microstructural, mechanical and corrosion behaviour of Al–Si alloy reinforced with SiC metal matrix composite. J Compos Mater 53(28-30):4215–4223
Gokce A, Findik F (2008) Mechanical and physical properties of sintered aluminum powders. J Achiev Mater Manuf Eng 30:157–164
Yamaguchi K, Takakura N, Imatani S (1997) Compaction and sintering characteristics of composite metal powders. J Mater Process Technol 63:364–369
Chen J, Yang Y, Chen J, Li H, Ji J, Liu D (2015) Chemical modification of palygorskite with maleic anhydride modified polypropylene: mechanical properties, morphology, and crystal structure of palygorskite/polypropylene nanocomposites. Appl Clay Sci 115:230–237
Zare Y (2016) Study of nanoparticles aggregation/agglomeration in polymer particulate nanocomposites by mechanical properties. Compos A: Appl Sci Manuf 84:158–164
Huang X-X, Wen GW (2007) Mechanical properties of Al4SiC4 bulk ceramics produced by solid state reaction. Ceram Int 33:453–458
Wang J, He S, Sun B, Guo Q, Nishio M (2003) Grain refinement of Al–Si alloy (A356) by melt thermal treatment. J Mater Process Technol 141:29
Chintada S, Dora SP, Kare D (2022) D, Mechanical behavior and metallographic characterization of microwave sintered Al/SiC composite materials – an experimental approach. Silicon 14:7341–7352
Pradhan S, Ghosh S, Barman TK et al (2017) Tribological behavior of Al-SiC metal matrix composite under dry, aqueous and alkaline medium. Silicon 9:923–931
Carlton CE, Ferreira PJ (2007) What is behind the inverse Hall-Petch effect in nanocrystalline materials? Acta Mater 55:3749–3756
Nieto A, Yang H, Jiang L, Schoenung JM (2017) Reinforcement size effects on the abrasive wear of boron carbide reinforced aluminum composites. Wear 390–391:228–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2017.08.002
Gupta PKDPO (2018) Dependence of wear behavior on sintering mechanism for iron-alumina metal matrix nanocomposites. J Mater Chem Phys 220:441–448
Amarnath G, Sharma KV (2013) Microsture and tribological properties of nanoparticulate WC/Al metal matrix composites. Int J Mech Eng Technol 4:178–188
Razavizadeh K, Eyre TS (1982) Oxidative wear of aluminium alloys. Wear 79:325–333
Mousavi Abarghouie SMR, SeyedReihani SM (2010) Investigation of friction and wear behaviors of 2024 Al/SiCp composite at elevated temperatures. J Alloy Comp 501:326–332
Das S, Mondal DP, Dixit G (2009) Dry sliding wear behavior of cast high strength aluminum alloy (Al–Zn–Mg) and hard particle composites. Wear 267:1688–1695
Acknowledgements
The authors warmly appreciate the Central Instrument Facility Centre (CIFC) of IIT (BHU) Varanasi and the department of Ceramic Engineering of IIT (BHU) Varanasi for their assistance.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Rahul Singh and Amrendra Rai wrote the main manuscript text. Abhishek Kr Singh and Pankaj Chaurashiya performed and described the density measurement tests. Vinay Kumar Singh designed the layout of the experimental work.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Consent to Participate
I confirmed.
Consent for Publication
I confirmed.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interest.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, R., Singh, A.K., Chaurashiya, P. et al. Investigation of Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Al–7 Wt.% Si alloy Metal Matrix Composites Reinforced with SiC. Silicon 15, 4365–4374 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-023-02357-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-023-02357-y