Development of rare earth element-based hybrid aluminium composites using stir casting process

Abstract

Abstract Aerospace and marine industries are constantly in search of materials that can provide good strength and durability while also being lightweight. Aluminium composites with adequate reinforcements have been proven to be effective in achieving incredible mechanical properties while also maintaining a good strength to weight ratio. Numerous studies have been done to study the various possibilities of matrix reinforcement combinations in aluminium composites. This work focuses on studying the effect of varying Cerium Oxide (CeO2) percentage in the aluminium composite on its tensile strength, hardness and corrosion resistance. CeO2 is used along with Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) to develop four samples of hybrid aluminium composites with SiC and MWCNT constituting 1% and 0.1% of the composite and the weight percentage of CeO2 is varied between 1 and 2.5%. All the samples were fabricated using the modified stir casting process. The results show that the hardness and tensile strength of the composites peak when the CeO2% is at 2% while corrosion resistance only gets better with increasing reinforcement content. A significant enhancement in mechanical and physical properties of aluminium composite suggests that MWCNT is an effective hybridizing agent with SiC and CeO2 to develop aluminium composites.