Influence of particulates on microstructure, Mechanical and Fractured behaviour on Al-7075 alloy composite by FEA

ABSTRACTAluminium alloys are employed in advanced applications due to their desirable combination of low density, high strength, durability, availability, and cost vs. competing materials. The characteristics described above can be increased further by employing aluminium matrix composite materials reinforced with harder particles. The hybrid aluminium alloy (Al7075) composite was made in an electric resistance furnace using the sand mould process and reinforced with alumina (Al2O3) and boron carbide (B4C) particles. The purpose of this research to investigate the mechanical characteristics of Al7075-Al2O3-B4C hybrid composites with stable Al2O3 weight percentages (4%) and varied B4C weight percentages (2–6%). Mechanical characteristics includes tensile and compressive strength, hardness, and microstructure analysis were evaluated on the pure and cast specimens. In this study, which followed the ASTM standard, the mechanical characteristics of Al7075 alloy hybrid composites were examined experimentally and validated using FEA. The results showed that when hard ceramic particles (Al2O3/B4C) were added to matrix alloy (Al7075), mechanical characteristics such as compressive strength and hardness improved while tensile strength was reduced. The static structural tensile test was successfully simulated in ANSYS. It was observed that both FEA results and analytical results were correlated.KEYWORDS: Al7075Al2O3, B4CmicrostructureMechanical behaviourFEM Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.Additional informationNotes on contributorsJ KumaraswamyDr. Kumaraswamy J is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering at R. L. Jalappa Institute of Technology in Doddaballapur, Bangalore Rural. He earned his Ph.D., from UBDT College of Engineering at Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi, India. He has 10 years of teaching experience and serves as the Editor of the International Journal of Mechanical Engineering (IJME). He has published 19 research papers in international journals, including 2 in SCI-indexed journals and 17 in Scopus-indexed journals. His H-Index is 12, I-Index is 13, and his work has received a total of 400 citations. His research interests encompass materials science.K C AnilDr. Anil K C, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur. He obtained his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Industrial Engineering and Management during the year 2010 and completed his masters in production technology in the year 2013 and Ph.D. from Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi, India.T R VeenaDr. T.R. Veena is working as an Assistant Professor in Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, BH Road, Tumakuru-572103. She has been working in the department since 2000.Mahadeva ReddyDr. Mahadeva Reddy is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering at Genba Sopanrao Moze College of Engineering Baner - Balewadi Pune - 411045 Maharashtra. He earned his Ph.D. from Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi, India.K Sunil KumarDr. Sunil Kumar K obtained his Ph.D., from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, M. Tech from Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Tumkur, BE Degree from, R L Jalappa Institute of Technology, Doddaballapur.