A study on Morphological and Mechanical Characterization of Al-4032/SiC/GP Hybrid Composites

Abstract

The pattern of metal matrix composites can be enhanced by integrating the concept of hybrid metal matrix composite to produce newer engineering materials with improved properties. The morphological and mechanical characteristics of Al-4032/SiC/GP hybrid composites have been investigated. The aluminium alloy (Al-4032) based hybrid composites have been fabricated through the bottom pouring stir casting set up, by reinforcing the silicon carbide (SiC) and granite powder ceramic particles as the reinforcement material at various fraction level i.e. 0, 3, 6, 9 weight% in equal proportion. The reinforcement particle size is up to 54μm. The microstructural characterization of the hybrid composite samples has been carried out using optical microscope, SEM and XRD. The study reveals that the reinforcement hybrid particles (SiC + GP) are almost uniformly distributed throughout the matrix phase. The mechanical properties (tensile strength, impact strength and microhardness) of the hybrid composite samples have been obtained and found to be better than the unreinforced alloy.