Influences of Si3N4 and Al2O3 reinforcement particulates on mechanical and wear properties of Mg (ZE41A) matrix hybrid metal matrix composite materials

Abstract

The aim of this research study is the investigating the properties of a hybrid Magnesium (Mg) Metal Matrix Composite(MMC) fabricated using integrated squeeze cum stir casting setup. The challenges of this liquid metallurgy processing routeare non-uniform distribution and agglomeration of reinforcement particles; this could cause poor quality in composites, whichmight result in ruining the value of the properties and performance of the fabricated composites. The primary and secondaryreinforcements investigated on this study are Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) and Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) respectively. Magnesiumalloy (ZE41A- mainly based on zinc, zirconium and cerium) was taken as base metal with micron sized Silicon Nitride (Si3N4)as primary reinforcement. Aluminum Oxide(Al2O3) is employed as secondary reinforcement to fabricate hybrid magnesiumMMC of different weight fractions; (a) Pure Mg (ZE41A), (b) 1 wt% of Si3N4 and 1wt% of Al2O3, (c) 2 wt% of Si3N4 and2 wt% of Al2O3, (d) 3 wt% of Si3N4 and 3 wt% of Al2O3 and (e) 4 wt% of Si3N4 and 4 wt% of Al2O3. The fabricated compositesare analyzed for metallurgical, mechanical characterization and tribological behavior by optical microscopic analysis, SEMimaging, and EDAX analyses. The maximum ultimate tensile strength observed is 201.5 MP, a 11.93% increase than pure MgZE41A base alloy.