Mechanical and tribological behavior of flyash, red mud and mica particles reinforced Al7075 alloy hybrid metal composites

Abstract

In the present research Al7075 alloy with 1, 3 and 5 varying weight percentages of flyash, 1, 2 and 3 varying wt.% of red mud along with constant 4 wt.% of mica particles composites were synthesized by stir casting technique. Thus prepared Al7075 alloy composites were subjected to the microstructural characterization using SEM and EDS. Mechanical properties were evaluated to know the impact of multi micro particles addition on the hardness, ultimate strength, yield strength, and ductility behavior of Al7075 alloy composites. Further, wear behavior of the prepared Al7075 alloy with mica, flyash and redmud composites were experimented using pin-on-disc apparatus by varying normal load and sliding velocity at constant 3000 m sliding distance. The improved mechanical properties were observed with the addition of micro scaled flyash, redmud and mica particles, further improvement was attained with the increasing weight percentage of flyash and red mud in the Al7075 matrix alloy. However, there was decrease in the ductility of the composites with an incorporation of hard micro particles in the soft Al matrix. Fractography and worn surface analysis were carried out to know the influence of micro particles on the tensile failure and wear surfaces of the composites.