Mechanical characterization of low temperature thermomechanical treated AA6061-silica sand composites

In the present work efforts are made to confirm the effects of reinforcement and thermomechanical treatment (TMT) on the mechanical properties of aluminium matrix composite (AMC) produced through stir casting technique. Silica sand particles with varying weight percentages were used to fabricate the composites and the extracted particle analysis revealed the retention of a minimum of 97% of reinforcement particles. The composites are subjected to conventional age hardening and low temperature thermomechanical treatment (LTMT) to enhance their mechanical properties. The mechanical characterization of the composites subjected to heat treatment processes include hardness and tensile tests. Nearly 20–30% increase in peak hardness, 30% decrease in aging time and 15% increase in ultimate tensile strength (UTS) was observed in LTMT treated composites as compared to age hardened composites. The best results of peak hardness and UTS of 139.76 HV and 274 MPa respectively were achieved by composite containing 6 wt.% silica sand reinforcement subjected to 15% deformation and aged at 100 °C.