Mechanical behaviour of fly ash/SiC particles reinforced Al-Zn alloy-based metal matrix composites fabricated by stir casting method

Abstract

In the present work Al-Zn/fly ash/SiC reinforced composites are fabricated through vortex method using stir casting route. Fly ash is abundantly available in thermal power plants which is considered to be a major industrial waste. This paper reports the microstructural evaluation and mechanical behaviour of aluminium-zinc alloy reinforced with fly ash and silicon carbide (SiC) has been investigated. Composites reinforced with fly ash and SiC in different weight percentages varying from 0 -10 wt percentage with a particle size of 53 μm were prepared. The prepared composites were characterized using optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Electron back scattered diffraction(EBSD) and tensile testing machine. The microstructural studies revealed the presence of fly ash and SiC particulates and are distributed uniformly throughout the matrix whereas the grainsize refinement is observed in EBSD analysis. The incorporation of fly ash particles enhanced the hardness and tensile properties like ultimate tensile and yield strengths were improved by the addition of SiC particles. The strengthening mechanisms were discussed for the improved properties. Keywords: Stir casting, Electron back scattered diffraction, SEM