Mechanical characterization of heat treated Al2219 hybrid composites

Aluminium alloy matrix composites with Al ₂ O ₃ reinforcements exhibit superior mechanical properties and utilize in several demanding fields' viz., automobile, aerospace, defense, sports equipment, electronics and bio-medical. The present work emphasizes on improvement of microstructure and mechanical properties of age hardened graphite and alumina reinforced Al alloy matrix hybrid composites. Different composites with a constant carbon content of 1 weight % and 0, 2, 4 and 6 weight % Al ₂ O ₃ as reinforcements are fabricated by using stir casting technic and tested for hardness, tensile and impact strength. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is performed to analyse the failure mode under tensile load. All the composites are subjected to age hardening treatment with solutionising temperature of 530°C and aging temperatures of 100 and 200°C. The peak hardness of the composites at two aging temperatures are noted. Tensile and impact tests are conducted for the peak aged specimens. Results show substantial increase in the hardness of the age hardened specimens in the range of 34-44% in comparison with the as cast specimens. Result analysis shows increase in tensile strength (upto 40%) and decrease in impact resistance (upto 33%) with the increase in weight % of reinforcements. As the aging temperature increases a reduction in tensile strength and impact resistance is observed in each composites.