EFFECT OF ADDING SiC AND TiO2 NANOPARTICLES TO AA6061 BY STIR CASTING TECHNIQUE ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF COMPOSITES
Author(s):
Abdullah Dhayea Assi†*,Hassan A.Abdulhadi†, Salman Hussien Omran‡
Affiliation(s):
†Middle Technical University, Institute of Technology/Baghdad
‡Renewable Energies Technology Center, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Owing to the large industrial development which the world has seen in all fields, scientists and researchers have aimed to produce new materials that have special engineering properties with a low economic cost that fits multiple industrial applications and uses. In the present article, composite materials were prepared from aluminum alloy (6061). The prepared composite was reinforced with silicon carbide (SiC) and titanium dioxide(TiO2) nanoparticles which were added in specific weight percentages (3, 6, 9 wt%) using a stir casting technique. Cold mechanical treatment (forming with pressure) and heat-treated T6 (solution heat treatment-artificial aging) were carried out on all the specimens. The samples were later subjected to mechanical tests. From the SEM and X-RD results, the reinforced samples showed a uniform distribution of the nanoparticles within the samples matrix, indicating a successful preparation of the aluminum alloy via a stir casting technique. The results further showed an improvement in the hardness, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and impact toughness of the reinforced AA (6061) before and after mechanical and heat treatment (Thermo-mechanical) as the percentage of the reinforcement material increases.