Study Of Mechanical Properties Of Al 5052- Al2O3- GraphiteHybrid Composite Fabricated Using Stir Casting Process

Abstract

The composite materials are extensively used in automotive, aerospace and defence fields due to its high strength to weight ratio. The mechanical properties and machinability of composites not only depend on the volume of reinforcements, but also on the distribution of these reinforcements. Al 5052 alloy has high corrosion resistance; however, its hardness is lower which limits its applications. This project aims at fabricating a composite material using Al 5052 as matrix which has high hardness. Composite material with different proportions of Al2O3 and graphite were fabricated using stir casting process. Samples were prepared using Al 5052 reinforced with Aluminium oxide Al2O3 (2%, 4%) and Graphite (1%) by volume at various melting temperatures of 675°C, 700°C and reinforcement pre-heat temperatures as 250°C and 300°C. Experiments were conducted using Taguchi L4 orthogonal design of experiments.The results show that the incorporation of Al2O3 increases the hardness of the material whereas graphite increases the wear resistance of the material.