Comparative analysis of particle size on the mechanical and metallurgical characteristics of Al₂O₃-reinforced sintered and extruded AA2014 nano-hybrid composite

Abstract

Aluminum metal matrix composites (AMCs) are having exotic properties which attract the research community to develop new nano-composite material. The aim of the work is to compare the effect of various weight percentage of alumina particle (micro-size (20–50 μm) and nano-size (50–80 nm)) in the AA2014 hybrid nano-composite by sintering and hot extrusion processes. The prepared composites are subjected to mechanical and metallurgical characterization. A comparative analysis is performed by varying the weight percentages (1–10%) of alumina-reinforced particles. The AA2014 hybrid composite sample-3 (S3) is showing a substantial enhancement in the mechanical characteristics (Ys-255 MPa and UTS-265 MPa) than the other samples. The interfacial bonding between the AA2014 and alumina has observed minimum micro-hardness magnitude (98 VHN) in the sintered samples. The compressive strength of extruded composite S3 (327 MPa) is 1.157 times as high as the sintered sample. The agglomeration and segregation of Al 2 O 3 -reinforced nano-particles is identified in the AA2014 hybrid composite by using SEM analysis. The conical and equiaxed dimple failure in the AA2014 matrix and the circular cavities are observed through fractography analysis.