Experimental Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Tin Reinforced with Aluminium (6061) Composite and Scanning Electron Microscope Analysis
Keywords:
-Abstract
The present work is an experimental investigation for the mechanical properties of tin reinforced aluminium alloy (Al 6061) composites samples, processed by stir casting method. Four composites of aluminium alloy 6061with tin composition varying i.e. 5%, 10%, 15% & 20% by weight were used. The aluminium alloy 6061 was procured in the form of ingot and the tin in powder form. First the aluminium alloy was melted in the furnace which was gas (LPG) fired and once a molten state was reached tin powder was introduced in the molten metal. The mixture was stirred continuously to bring about uniformity in the mixture and casted in a silica mould. Upon solidification the cast was removed, machined and tested for mechanical properties. The mechanical properties studied under this experiment are tensile test, compression test and hardness test all under room condition. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of all the four composite (of Al-Sn) are studied. In this experiment stir casting method was employed as it is the simplest and most effective method for castings. From the experimental readings it is found out that the hardness was consistently decreasing as tin is softer material than aluminium 6061 alloy, the tensile strength of the composite decreased for 5%,10%,15% of tin and slightly increased for 20% of tin and compression strength of the material kept on decreasing consistently as the percentage of tin increased in the material. When compared with the base pure aluminium alloy the composites specific weight decreased.
References
Ahlatci, H, Candan, E, Cimenoglu, H. 2004. Abrasive wear and mechanical properties of Al-Si/SiC composites, Wear, 257, 625-632.
Basavarajappa, S., Chandramohan, G, Dinesh, A. 2004, Mechanical properties of mmc’s- An experimental investigation, Int. symposium of research on Materials and Engineering, IIT, Madras, December 20, 1-8.
Charles, S., Arunachalam, V.P. 2004, Property analysis and Mathematical modeling of machining properties of aluminium alloy hybrid (Al-alloy/SiC/fly ash) composites Produced by liquid metallurgy and powder metallurgy techniques, Indian Journal of Engg. & Material Science, 11, 473-480.
E. Feyzullahog, "The wear of aluminium-based journal bearing materials under lubrication", Materials and Design 31 (2010) 2532–2539.
Hebbar, H.S., Ravindra K.G., 2008. Study of the Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Aluminium Ally- SiCp Composites Processed bystir casting method, IISc Centenary- International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering(IC-ICAME), Bangalore, India, July 2-4
L. Ratke and S. Diefenbach, "Liquid immiscible alloys," Mater. Sci. and Eng., R15 (1995), 263-347.
Mahagundappa, M.B., Shivanand, H.K., Muralidhara, M. 2006. Influence of Reinforcements and Thermal Ageing on the Mechanical Properties of Al (6061) Based Hybrid Composites, India Foundry Journal, 52, 20-43
Mahendra, K.V., Radhakrishna, K. 2007, Fabrication of Al-4.5% Cu alloy with fly ash mmc and its characterization, Material science Poland, 25, 57-68.
Miracle, D.B. 2005. Metal Matrix composites-From science to technological significance, Composites Science and Technology, 65, 2526-2540.
Sahin, Y. 2003, Wear behaviour of aluminium alloy and its composites reinforced by SiC particles using statistical analysis, Materials and Design, 24, 95-103.
Seah, K/H.W, Sharma, S.C., Girish, B.M.1995, Mechanical properties of cast ZA-27/Graphite particulate composites, Materials and Design, 16, 271-275.
Sudarshan, Surappa, M.K. 2008. Synthesis of fly ash particle reinforced A356 Al composites and their characterization, Material Science and Engineering, A, 480, 117-124.
