Reusing marble dust as reinforcement material for better mechanical performance: Studies on compositing aluminum matrix

Abstract

The present paper addresses the effects of the preheating of reinforcement particles on the performance of an aluminium metal composite. Waste marble dust particles were used as reinforcements in the Al 6063 aluminium matrix. The aluminium composites were fabricated by preheating the marbles particles at and 200 °C, 100 °C and at room temperature with the help of friction stir processing technique. Tensile strength, micro-hardness, wear and friction behavior of the fabricated materials were compared with aluminium marble dust composite fabricated with room temperature heated marble dust. It was observed that the aluminium marble dust composite processed with 200 °C preheated marble dust resulted in maximum tensile strength and micro-hardness as compared to the composite fabricated with room temperature heated marble dust. Improvement of 52% in tensile strength and 29% in micro-hardness as compared to the composite with room temperature preheated marble dust. The wear and friction properties for the Al-MD composite were also enhanced with the introduction of preheated marble dust in the aluminium matrix. There was an improvement of 25% in the specific wear rate and 23% in the coefficient of friction for the fabricated aluminium marble dust composite as compared to the composite with room temperature preheated marble dust.