An investigation of the mechanical properties of organic silica, bamboo leaf ash and rice husk reinforced aluminium hybrid composite

The availability of diverse materials has posed a big challenge of materials selection for different engineering applications.1 However; this has enhanced the preference for affordable high performance materials with requisite quality. Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) has emerged as a viable alternative to different conventional materials.2 The application of these composites have been established in different industries such aerospace, marine, defense and automobile. Metals such as copper, aluminium, magnesium and their alloys are the most commonly used MMCs due to their light weights. The unique properties of these metals are combined with different kind of reinforcement materials to produce composite materials of distinct properties.3‒6 Aluminium based composites has continually generated a lot of interest judging from the available volume of literature. The versatility of its application, lower cost of production and its outstanding properties have distinguished Al based composites and it has remained the most used MMC.2 The reinforcement materials selected with Al MMC is very crucial in harnessing the desired property. In different research, numerous reinforcement materials such as fly ash, silicon carbide, alumina, silica, graphite, mica among others have been selected with Aluminium MMCs.7 However, the areas of application of Al based composites is expected to continue growing. Therefore, different combinations of important reinforcement materials particularly agro waste products including bamboo leaf ash and rice husk require further study.