Effect of Bottom Ash and Fly Ash as a Susceptor Material on the Properties of Aluminium Based Composites Prepared by Microwave Sintering

Abstract

The use of aluminium as a single material in automotive applications is not suitable without a mixture with reinforcement materials that can support the properties at high temperature. In this study, aluminium based composite were prepared with weight percentage of SiC reinforcement, varying from 5 to 20 wt%. Aluminium powder and reinforcement materials were mixed using ball milling machine with speed of 100 rpm for 2 hours. The powder mixture were then compressed at pressure 4 tonnes with 5 minutes holding time. The compact samples were sintered using microwave sintering technique. Microwave sintering techniques in this study using two different types of susceptor materials that are bottom ash and fly ash. Sintered aluminium based composites using bottom ash susceptor material involving the sintering temperature of 526 °C for 30 minutes whereas for the samples sintered using fly ash susceptor material, involving a temperature of 523 °C for 15 minutes. From the result, the sintered samples using fly ash susceptor material, showed higher density with a value of 2.1933 g/cm3 compared to bottom ash 2.0002 g/cm3 and having the higher hardness value 72.1315 HV compared to bottom ash 50.0511HV. The using of fly ash could affect the heating rate during the sintering process which could influence the properties of aluminium based composites. In conclusion, the type of susceptor could affect the physical and mechanical properties of aluminum-based composite reinforced with silicon carbide.