Evaluation of mechanical properties of aluminium alloy–alumina–boron carbide metal matrix composites

• Fabrication of MMC with aluminium alloy–alumina–boron carbide is done.
• Different proportions of reinforcements are added.
• The effects of varying proportions are studied.
• Investigation on mechanical properties above composites is performed.
• Failure morphology analysis is done using SEM.

This paper deals with the fabrication and mechanical investigation of aluminium alloy, alumina (Al2O3) and boron carbide metal matrix composites. Aluminium is the matrix metal having properties like light weight, high strength and ease of machinability. Alumina which has better wear resistance, high strength, hardness and boron carbide which has excellent hardness and fracture toughness are added as reinforcements. Here, the fabrication is done by stir casting which involves mixing the required quantities of additives into stirred molten aluminium. After solidification, the samples are prepared and tested to find the various mechanical properties like tensile, flexural, impact and hardness. The internal structure of the composite is observed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).