Natural and industrial origin reinforced LM6 aluminum matrix composite materials – A comparative study

What is it about?

Higher costs incurred in processing reinforcing materials lead to excessive total production costs of composites, which is a considerable impediment to industrialists and end-users. It is reported in the literature that use of industrial wastes such as slag, red mud, fly ash and arc furnace dust as reinforcement materials in AMC has drastically improved properties and reduced total cost considerably in comparison with AMC with commonly used reinforcing materials. Besides reduction in costs, this new approach solves environmental problems posed by these waste materials otherwise. Researchers have thereby started focusing on exploring newer and cheaper waste materials suitable for reinforcement in AMC. The present study considers marble wastes (MW), a promising waste material produced from the marble cutting and finishing processes, and graphene oxide (GO), a mono-atomic layered substance produced through the oxidation of graphite, to be used as potential reinforcing materials in AMC. Composite specimens are fabricated using the pressure casting process and subject to mechanical testing methods and microstructural assessments to make a comparative study on the mechanical and physical properties of LM6 AMC. Natural and industrial reinforcing materials are used in fractional volumes of 5% MW and 5% GO. The results revealed that the new AMC class has much improved mechanical and physical properties over conventional AMC. Further, GO/LM6 composites exhibited superior properties over the MW/LM6 composites, with a 45% improvement in UTS. The fracture surface characteristics and analysis were carried out using SEM, which showed porosity spots across the structure and a potential cavity in the matrix that has led to the final fracture of AMC.

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