Abstract

Mechanical Behavior of Al7025-B4C Particulate Reinforced Composites

Nagaral M, Attar S, Reddappa HN, Auradi V, Suresh Kumar S and Raghu S

In comparison to unreinforced alloy, Al7025 reinforced with hard ceramic particles possesses higher strength, hardness,wear resistance and low coefficient of thermal expansion. They can be used for automotive components and aircraft structures. The aim of the present work is to investigate the effects of adding micro size-B4C particales to Al7025 alloy on the mechanical properties of the composites.The Al7025 alloy reinforced with 6 wt. % of B4C particulate composites were fabricated by stir casting method.Microstructure and mechanical properties such as hardness, ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, percentage elongation and density of the composites were examined. Microstructure of the samples has been investigated by using optical microscopy to know the uniform distribution of reinforcement particulates in the matrix. It was observed that the hardness, ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of Al7025 alloy increased with the addition of 6 wt. % B4C particulates.From the study, it was revealed that the elongation and density of Al7025-6wt.% B4C composite decreased in comparison to that of the base Al7025 alloy.