Enhanced tensile, hardness and wear behaviors of pure aluminum matrix reinforced with steel chips via powder metallurgy technique

Abstract

The mechanical properties and wear behavior of aluminum matrix reinforced with steel machining chips was investigated. Pure aluminum was reinforced with 5, 7.5, and 10 wt% steel chips with an average size of 100 μm using powder metallurgy technique. Aluminum reinforced with 5 and 10 Wt.% SiC particles were manufactured for comparison. The investigation showed clear evidence that the addition of steel machining chips resulted in significantly low porosity levels in the aluminum matrix composites compared with the use of SiC as reinforcement. The mechanical properties (tensile and hardness) as well as the wear resistance were also observed to improve with the use of the steel machining chips as reinforcement. The results demonstrate the capability of steel machining chips to act as efficient reinforcing material and a reliable cost effective candidate in the development of aluminum matrix composites.