Mechanical and wear behavior of AA7075 aluminum matrix composites reinforced by Al2O3 nanoparticles

Abstract

An attempt was made to synthesize aluminum alloy (AA) 7075 matrix reinforced with 0, 1, 3, 5 wt% Al2O3 particulates by using stir casting technique. Mechanical properties and wear behavior were examined. The hardness and tensile properties were obtained before and after addition of Al2O3 particulates to reveal the extent improvement. Wear behavior was examined by using a pin-on-disc device to validate the improvement of the wear resistance. The results showed that adding of Al2O3 reinforcement were significantly enhanced the mechanical properties. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield tensile strength (YTS) were observed 133 MPa, 35 MPa for the unfilled aluminum matrix, whereas 152 MPa and 47 MPA were achieved at 5 wt% Al2O3 nanocomposites which resulted in 14.3 and 34.3% improvement, respectively. The hardness was observed 57 BHN and 72 BHN at 0 wt% and 5 wt% Al2O3 respectively, resulting in an improvement of 26.3%.