Characterization of aluminium metal matrix composite fabricated by gas injection bottom pouring vacuum multi-stir casting process

Abstract

In the present work, a newly developed gas injection bottom pouring vacuum stir casting technique has been envisaged for the fabrication of Aluminium MMCs which is a fully automated and one of its kind. Aluminium 6063-T6 alloy is used as the matrix, and the aluminium oxide (Al2O3) particles are taken as reinforcement. Different experiments have been performed on the fabricated MMCs to ascertain its mechanical and morphological properties. The presence of various elements and grain morphology of the fabricated MMCs are confirmed by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and mapping. The experimental results revealed that the hardness of Al/Al2O3MMC had increased by 1.71 times and maximum tensile strength had increased by 1.27 times in comparison to the monolithic aluminium alloy. The results establish that the proposed methodology of MMC fabrication can be effectively utilized for fabrication of homogeneously reinforced MMCs for various engineering and industrial applications.