Experimental Investigation on Hardness of AA4032 Reinforced Nano Si3N4 Using Novel Encapsulate Technique

Abstract

This study compared the hardness of composites reinforced with 10% nano Si 3 N 4 and produced using a novel encapsulation technique to as-cast AA4032. The samples for both groups were produced using the stir-casting method and a new encapsulating approach. For group 1, the combination of nano Si 3 N 4 (10%) and AA4032 was used as a composite, while for group 2, AA4032 as-cast was used. The samples were created following ASTM E92 criteria, and their hardness was assessed using a Vickers hardness machine. In each group, there were 20 samples. G-power of 80% = 0.05 per set and a total sample size of 40 were used to calculate the sample size. The 10% nano Si 3 N 4 filled material was the most challenging material, which was 35% tougher than the as-cast AA4032. According to the t-test statistical analysis, the mean-variance of hardness between group 1 and group 2 differs by p = 0.00 (p < 0.05). Within the constraints of this work, it is clear that the inclusion of 10% nano Si 3 N 4 reinforcement dramatically increases the hardness of the AA4032 composite.