An integrated experimental and analytical approach on mechanical characterization of advanced powder metallurgy aluminium metal matrix composites reinforced with different particulates

Abstract Over the last few decades, ‘Discontinuously Reinforced Particulate Composites (DRPCs)’ are a popular class of composite materials with considerable challenge in processing, characterization and machinability because of their increased strength-weight ratio, stiffness, specific strength and oxidization when compared to various metals and their alloys. This paper discusses experimental and numerical investigation on mechanical characteristics of aluminum metal matrix reinforced with various reinforcement particulates such as silicon carbide, aluminium oxide, and zirconium oxide, compaction pressure (kN) and hold time (s) based on Design of Experiments (DOE) and Finite Element Analysis. Initially this paper discusses the process optimization of Aluminum Matrix reinforced with different particulates experimentally to identify the favourable processing conditions by varying reinforcement materials, compaction pressure (kN) and hold time (s) based on TDOE (Taguchi’s Design of Experiments). Further, this paper concentrates to determine ‘maximum principal stress, equivalent elastic strain and equivalent (von-mises) stress’ based on Finite Element Analysis (ANSYS Workbench-2023R1). The results of the experimentation showed that the highest hardness values were achieved with ZrO₂ reinforcement material. Increasing the compaction pressure from 8 to 12 kN resulted in a slight decrease in surface roughness and porosity. Higher compaction pressures have assumed to facilitate better particle distribution and improved interfacial bonding, leading to smoother surfaces and lower void content. The simulation results showed that the maximum principal stress achieved were (2235.8 MPa) SiC, (3444.4 MPa) Al₂O₃, and (3582.5 MPa) ZrO₂. The equivalent elastic strain achieved was (0.2488) SiC, (0.2421) Al₂O₃ and (0.262) ZrO₂. The equivalent (Von Mises) stress achieved was (28751 MPa) for SiC, (24880 MPa) for ZrO₂ and (26972 MPa) for Al₂O₃. This experimentation and simulation demonstrated that the PM process can be used to fabricate DRAMMC with different reinforcement particulates. The understanding gained experimentally and analytically from this research can be applied for future processing of Aluminum Matrix Reinforced with different particulates.