Experimental analysis of mechanical properties of stir casted aluminium-graphene nanocomposites

Abstract

Aluminium (Al) based materials are widely used in aerospace and automobile industries due to its higher strength to weight ratio. Under fatigue loading the components are prone to failure, which is one of the key factors in designing the components. In the present study, Graphene (Gr) is added to Al at different weight percentages (1%, 2% and 3%) using stir casting. Tensile strength and fracture toughness of the composites were determined using tensile testing of Dogbone specimens and plane strain fracture toughness testing of C (T) speci-mens in mode-I, respectively. The result showed that for Al-Gr nanocomposites, with the increase in Graphene percentages, tensile strength was found to be in-creased however the fracture toughness was decreased. It is also found that the manufacturing method followed in the present work to be cost effective method for Al-Gr nano composite. The analysis of different tests suggests that the addition of 2wt% Graphene found to be the saturation point in the nanocomposites and any further addition of Graphene can lead to the degradation in the quality of composite.