TECHNICAL INVESTIGATION OF SEA SAND REINFORCEMENT FOR NOVEL AL6061- SEA SAND COMPOSITES: IDENTIFICATION OF PERFORMANCE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Lightweight materials with low-cost production have been developed in recent years. The addition of ceramics and oxide particles such as Al2O3, SiC, and SiO2 has been improving in the mechanical properties of aluminum matrix composites (AMCs). As a solution, the use of natural reinforcing material continues to investigate. This paper investigates sea sand as an alternative reinforcement to AMCs. The Al 6061 was used as the matrix and sea sand as reinforcement. The manufacturing of the composite was conducted by stir casting route with variation 0, 2, 4, 6 %wt of the reinforcement. The composite was tested in hardness and tensile strength, the hardness test was obtained according to ASTM E-10, and the tensile test was conducted according to JIS Z2201 standard. Composite density decreases linearly with the addition of the reinforcement from 2 %wt to 6%wt, and the same phenomenon is obtained in porosity, the porosity increases with the addition of sea sand particles from 2%wt to 6%wt. The decline in density due to the lower density of sea sand particles compared to the aluminum matrix. Higher the sea sand particle that disperses into the matrix resulted in a lower density of the composite. Increasing porosity caused a higher fraction of reinforcement resulting in wider surface contact between matrix and reinforcement that promote the porosity. The hardness and ultimate tensile strength of AMCs increase with increasing of sea sand particles content. The presence of an oxide compound on the sea sand increased the mechanical properties of the composite. Increasing in mechanical properties indicate the sea sand particle dispersed into the matrix and sea sand can be used as engineering purpose material.