Mechanical and thermal properties of AA7075/TiO2/Fly ash hybrid composites obtained by hot forging

In the present paper, multiple reinforcements TiO2 and fly ash were utilized for the fabrication of AA7075 matrix based hybrid composites using stir casting technique followed by hot forging. In hybrid composites, the fly ash content was fixed to 3 wt% while that of TiO2 was varied from 2.5 to 10 wt%. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed homogenous dispersion of both the reinforcements in AA7075 matrix. Compression test was conducted to study the mechanical behaviour of hybrid composites. The hybrid composites showed increase in compressive strength with the incorporation of multiple reinforcements and further increased with the increase in the weight fractions of TiO2 particles. The coefficient of thermal expansion was measured between 50 and 250 °C with a high precision thermal mechanical analyser. The thermal coefficient of hybrid composites decreased with the addition of TiO2 and fly ash. However a slight decrease in thermal conductivity of hybrid composites was observed when compared to that of AA7075 alloy.