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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –

6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 3, Issue 3, Sep- Dec (2012) © IAEME

565

COMPACTION, SINTERING AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF

Al-SiCp COMPOSITES

Jeevan.V1, C.S.P Rao

2 and N.Selvaraj

3

1,2,3Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal,

Warangal, Andhrapradesh, India.

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A trend has been observed in the field of aluminum based composite materials to

employ silicon carbide as reinforcement material in developing composites of unique

properties. In the present study, an attempt has been made to fabricate the unreinforced Al

and its composites were synthesized using the Powder Metallurgy (P/M) manufacturing route

with blending, pressing and sintering allows the near net shape fabrication of precision parts.

The composites are further solution heat treated at 5290C for two hours and artificially aged

at 1750C for 18 hours. Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy has been carried

out to analyze powder morphology and composite structure. An increasing trend towards

micro-hardness and compressive strength with increase in weight percentage of silicon

carbide has been observed.

KEYWORDS: Al-SiCp, Mechanical Properties, Microstructure, Powder Metallurgy.

1. INTRODUCTION

Particulate Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites (PR AMCs) have evoked a

vehement interest in recent times for potential applications in aerospace, defence and

automotive industries. PR AMCs exhibit improved physical, mechanical and wear resistant

properties such as higher stiffness, superior strength-to-weight ratio, improved wear

resistance, increased creep resistance , low coefficient of thermal expansion, improved high-

temperature properties, and high workability of the composites over those of the monolithic

metals oralloys [1-5].

Earlier studies on Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) addressed the behaviour of

continuous fiber reinforcement composite based on aluminum, zinc and titanium alloys

matrices. The wide usage of these composites is restricted because of high production cost of

composite and composite fiber. MMCs that include both particulate and whiskers have

attracted considerable attention than fiber reinforced MMCs, because of their low cost and

considerable ease of manufacturing. A wide range of PR AMCs manufacturing processes has

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

AND TECHNOLOGY (IJMET) ISSN 0976 – 6340 (Print) ISSN 0976 – 6359 (Online) Volume 3, Issue 3, September - December (2012), pp.565-573

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been developed. These are generally manufactured either by solid state (Powder Metallurgy

processing) or by liquid state (stir casting) processes effectively [6].

To fabricate PR AMCs, among the various manufacturing technologies powder metallurgy is

one the most advantageous techniques to fabricate isotropic distribution of particles in matrix, good

dimensional accuracy, complex, net shape lightweight components can be produced cost effectively.

Powder metallurgy is especially suitable for producing PR AMCs as it prevents some wettability

problems of silicon SiCp and deleterious reactions that may appear during casting routes. Blended

fine powder mixtures in the solid state with particulates, whiskers or platelets along with binders

produce materials of uniform microstructure. The conventional powder metallurgy process can easily

formulate different composition by mixing elemental or premixed powders along with reinforcement,

and pressing the powder mixture to form green compact by applying hydraulic pressure and sintering

the green compact in inert gas atmosphere. Few microstructural parameters control and contribute to

the advancement in the properties of PR AMCs. These involve the matrix alloy, the morphology, size,

and weight fraction of the reinforcement particulate; the material processing technique; and the heat

treatment adapted [1-7].

PR AMCs powder is highly compressible. Mostly, green densities of more than 90 % of

theoretical can achieve utilizing low compacting pressures around 200MPa, allowing the use of

presses with smaller capacity. Sintering of PR AMCs parts is more economical than for most other

PM materials due to the relatively low sintering temperatures. Due to the low density of PR AMCs,

more than twice number of parts can be produced from unit weight of powder as compared to ferrous,

copper and tungsten based powders.

During last decade, several researchers have reported the fabrication of Al-SiCp composites

and testing of their properties such as tensile strength, hardness, wear resistance and microstructural

characterization. Most of the researchers have observed that an increase in tensile strength, hardness

and wear resistance while decrease in ductility with increase in reinforcement content and aluminum

alloy powders are difficult to sinter because of the stable aluminum oxide film covering the powder

particles and thus reducing sinter-ability. In addition, the presence of hard ceramic particles in

aluminum ductile matrix increases the processing difficulty. Related work carried out on aluminum

alloy by reinforcing ceramic particles such as SiC, Al2O3, ZrO2, TiO2 etc., with varying

reinforcement sizes, volume/weight fractions, lubricants, compaction pressures, sintering

temperatures, sintering time, and sintering atmospheres. By varying these parameters will result

optimal set of parameters lead to resultant microstructure and properties [7-22].

The 6xxx series aluminum alloys have a widespread application, especially in the building,

aircraft and automotive industry due to their properties. Increasing demand for these materials have

resulted in increasing research and development for high strength and high-formability

aluminum alloys. Among 6xxx series aluminum alloys AA6082 one of the most common engineered

aluminum alloy. It offers a combination of better corrosion resistance and weldability due to its lower

strength values in the welding zone. In numerous applications, AA6061 can be replaced with AA6082

due to its higher strength [11-12].

The objective of the present investigation is to fabricate the unreinforced Al and its

composites. Hence, the present studies are aimed at fabrication of Al and Al-5 wt% of SiCp

composite that is fabricated by powder metallurgy route followed by solution heat treatment and

artificially aged. Microstructure, micro-hardness and compressive strength of the developed

unreinforced Al and its composites are studied. alloys [1-5].



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2. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

2.1 Materials

It is necessary to select pure metal powder and optimal processing parameters for the

preparation of specimens. Commercial pure aluminum is obtained from M/S Metal Powder

Company Ltd, Tamil Nadu, India. Silicon, Magnesium, and Manganese are supplied by

premier industrial corporation limited Maharashtra, India. Silicon carbide is obtained from

outside vendor at Tamil Nadu, India. The morphology of raw powders (Al, SiCp) was made

with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), JSM-6390 Model (JOEL) shown in figure 1(A),

1(B), 1(C), 1(D) and 1(E). The EDAX analysis has shown in figure 2(A) and 2(B).Particle

size and purity details for raw materials are given in table 1.

Fig. 1(A) SEM of Aluminum Powder Fig. 1(B) SEM of Silicon Powder

Fig. 1(C)SEM of Magnesium Powder Fig. 1(D)SEM of Manganese Powder



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Fig. 1(E) SEM of Silicon Carbide Powder

Fig. 2(A)EDAX of Aluminum Powder Fig. 2(B)EDAX of Silicon Carbide Powder

Table 1: Details of Raw Material

Sl.No Raw Material Particle Size Purity

1 Aluminum -200/+325 mesh 99.50%

2 Silicon -325 mesh 99.57%

3 Magnesium -150 mesh 99.67%

4 Manganese -325 mesh 99.78%

5 Silicon Carbide -1200 mesh 98.0%

2.2Mixing

The chemical composition of the AA6082 prepared by elemental mixing is as follows: Al–

1.0Si–0.9Mg–0.7Mn/5.0 SiCp (all concentrations by weight). Contech Precision Balance (Type: CA

223) is used for weighing elemental powder. Metal and ceramic powders were blended in a Turbula

mixer with Jar container. Blending is one of the crucial processes in powder metallurgy where the

metallic powders have mixed with the ceramic reinforced particles.Good blending produces no

agglomeration of both the metallic and ceramic powders. 1.5% of acrawax by weight was added to the

base Aluminum powder and mixed separately for 15 minutes. In general lubricant was added and

homogeny blended to reduce friction between the powder mass and the surface of the die and obtain a

good compaction. Addition of 1.0 Si, 0.9 Mg, 0.7Mn as elemental were made to the lubricated base

powder and mixed for 15 min each, after which a composition similar to that of wrought 6082 Al

alloy was gained. Finally by addition of 5% of SiC particulates by weight to the 6082 Al alloy powder

and mixed for 20minutes. The obtained powder mixtures with ceramics were homogeny at

macroscopic level.



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2.3 The Specimens Compacting

For pressing, a hydraulic press (Model: plus one machine fabric) was used to obtain

green compacts. Die wall is brushed with zinc stearate powder for easy ejection of pallet and

to reduce the friction between them. Blended Powders were compacted at 200 ± 5 Mpa in a

hardened steel die. In order to avoid damage of the samples during ejection, the compaction

pressure was decreased to 5Mpa after maximum pressure was obtained. The dimensions of

green compacts are 13.3 x 13.3 x 13.3 mm3. The theoretical density assuming zero porosity

was calculated by Rule of Mixture (ROM). The green density of the compacts was

determined from weight and volume measurements. The AA6082 and AA6082-SiCp powder

mixtures exhibit uniform die filling and provides good reproduction of part configuration.

Theoretical density and green density are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Theoretical Density and Green Density

Material Theoretical

Density

(g/cm3)

Green Density

(%)

AA6082 2.62 94.32

AA6082-SiCp 2.64 91.36

2.4Sintering and Heat Treatment

The mild steel boat with dimensions 30x15x5 cm

3 and 0.4cm thickness is filled with

fine sand and the green compactswith achieved dimensions are placedin the boat. The boat is

moved slowly inside pre heating zone with hydraulic arm. The temperature within the furnace

rises slowly in the preheat zone till it reaches the actual sintering temperature. The green

compacts are de-lubricated in the preheat zone at 3500C for 30 minutes. After de-lubrication

of pallets the boat enters into hot zone or sinter zone where the temperature raised slowly to

6200C it remains essentially constant for 45 minutes in a protective atmosphere cracked

ammonia. The sintering temperature is kept below the melting point of the base metal. The

boat is pushed into the cooling zone where the drop in part temperature is controlled precisely

and cooled to room temperature. As the parts travel through the furnace, the temperature

cycle results change in composition, microstructure and properties. In the preheat zone, the

lubricant volatilizes, leaves the part as a vapor, and is carried out by the dynamic atmosphere

flow. In the hot zone, metallurgical bonds develop between particles and solid state alloying

takes place. The part then moves through the cooling zone. The microstructure developed

during sintering determines the properties of the part. Dimensional changes encountered after

sintering. The premixed elemental AA6082 specimens are subjected to volumetric expansion.

Sintered densities of specimens were measured by the Archimedes principle (water

displacement technique). The porosity is increased during the sintering process compared to

the green one. The large porosities reduced the sintering densities due to wide polymer burn

off range leaving residual porosity. Proper bonding between metallic matrix and ceramic

particles at interface and the morphology and distribution of pores and carbides in the matrix

are achieved. The composites are further solution heat treated at 5290C for two hours and

artificially aged at 1750C for 18 hours in a muffle furnace.



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3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Microstructure

The purpose of microstructure examination was to investigate grain size and shape

morphology and distribution of the silicon carbide particles. The microstructures of the

unreinforced Al and Al-SiCp composites were studied using optical microscope. For this

purpose small samples were cut from the cube fabricated by powder metallurgy process.The

flat samples were polished using silicon carbide paper (320, 400, 800, 1000, and 1500 grit)

and finally using a short-nap cloth with fine alumina powder as slurry. The samples were then

etched using the Keller’s reagent. Figure 4(A) and 4(B) shows the optical microscope

photographs for the the unreinforced Al and Al-SiCp. Micrograph indicates the nearly

uniform distribution of the SiCp particles in the aluminum matrix and some clustering of

silicon carbide arise reinforcement in the matrix.

Fig. 4(A) Microstructure of AA6082 Fig. 4(B) Microstructure of AA6082-5SiCp

3.2 Micro-hardness Test

Vickers Microhardness measurements were performed on polished flat specimens

according to ASTM E384-08 with indenting load of 200gf and dwell time 15 seconds. The

average microhardness data given in this paper resulted from five measurements. The

position of indentation on the sample was chosen randomly. The microhardness test gives a

good indication on the strength of the material. As the SiCp increases from 0 to 5 percentage

hardness also increased. The results were shown in Figure 5.

Fig. 5 Microhardness of P/M AA6082 and AA6082-5%SiCp

36

38

40

42

44

46

48

50

AA6082 AA6082-5SiCp

Mic

ro-H

ard

ne

ss



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3.3 Compression Test

The compression test was chosen as it requires small size specimen. The samples

which are a problem in case of powder metallurgy produced aluminum silicon carbide

composites. For each combination, four compression Specimens were tested. Figure 6,

illustrates the effect of Silicon carbide particulate reinforcement content on the compression

strength of the composite. It is observed that the compressive strength of the composite

increases as the reinforcement content increases from 0 to 5 weight percent. This increase in

the compression strength is attributed to the presence of hard particles, which imparts high

strength to the composite. This may be due to very small amounts of particulates at different

orientations, which can make significant difference in stress-strain behavior. The rigidity and

crushing strength of particles is much higher than that of matrix material hence the strength

increases.

Fig. 6Ultimate Compressive Strength of P/M AA6082 and AA6082-5%SiCp

4. CONCLUSION

During compaction of powders, the shape and quality of final component depends

upon the quality of initial manual compact. Therefore, the manual compact should be

prepared carefully and proper allowances should be in dimensions to get the desired final

component. Compaction at 200 MPa followed by sintering at 6200C has been successfully

used to produce Al alloy and Al-SiCp composites. During thepecipitation hardeningthe alloy

is transformed to a homogeneous, one phase solution. Micro-hardness, compressive strength

of powder metal Al alloy and Al-SiCp composites increases with increase in reinforcement

content from 0 to 5% weight of SiCp.

5. Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Mr.VinayChoudary (C.E.O) and Mr. Saibaba (GM),

Innomet Powders, Hyderabad, for their support and encouragement during the research

studies.

460

480

500

520

540

560

580

600

AA6082 AA6082-5SiCp

Co

mp

ress

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Te

st



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