Document Type : Research Article

Author

• Hossein Ramezanalizadeh

Department of Materials and Polymer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, P.O. Box 397, Sabzevar, Iran

Abstract

Among the high-tech industries like automotive, aerospace, electronics, etc., aluminum matrix cast composites (AMCCs) are widely applied for the fabrication of accountable and especially acute pieces. During the present study, hybrid aluminum base composites containing Mg₂Si and Al₃Ni particles were fabricated successfully in casting moods and their structural characteristics were evaluated under different solidification conditions. A variety of microstructural measurements were performed on the composite microstructure in this study, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Furthermore, a hardness test was conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties of the material. Results indicate that increasing the cooling rate during solidification reduces the average size of the Mg₂Si initial phases, improves their distribution uniformity and increases their final amount, whereas the average size of the Al₃Ni particles decreases greatly but their content remains the same. In comparison to base alloys, hybrid composite with Mg₂Si and Al₃Ni particles shows the highest hardness.

Keywords

• Al-based in-situ composites
• Hybrid intermetallic reinforcement
• Microstructural analysis
• Hardness
• Solidification rate
• Particle size

Main Subjects

• Casting, forming, and molding processes