Characteristic Study of Aluminium based MMCs with hybrid mixture of

Alumina and ZnO

Praveen Kumar S P1, Basavaraj Salimath2, Harshith S3, Hemanth Kumar S4, Mohammed
Azaruddin M5
1 Assistant professor, Mechanical Department, Rajarajeswari College of Engineering,
Bengaluru, India
2,3,4,5 Students, Mechanical Department, Rajarajeswari College of Engineering, Bengaluru,
India
Email: @gmail.com
Abstract

In the present study based on the literature review, the wear behaviour and mechanical properties
of hybrid metal matrix composites is discussed. These Aluminium metal matrix composites with
multiple reinforcement are finding increased applications in the transport, aerospace, marine,
automobile and mineral processing industries, because of improved mechanical and tribological
properties and hence are better substitutes for single reinforced composites .The widely used
reinforcing materials for these composites are Zinc oxide and Aluminium oxide .The main
objective of our work is to improve the mechanical properties such as impact strength, hardness of
Aluminium based MMCs and its relation with processing of Aluminium particulate(Alumina).

Introduction
In modern day technology there is an ever increasing demand in materials which achieves
good combination of strength, stiffness, toughness and density. But the conventional
monolithic materials have limitations in achieving these combinations. To overcome these
shortcomings and to meet the ever increasing demand of modern day technology, composites
are most promising materials of recent interest. Since 1960’s there has been an ever-increasing
demand for newer, stronger, stiffer and yet lighter-weight materials in fields such as aerospace,
transportation, automobile and construction sectors. Particle-reinforced aluminum alloys have
the potential to be used in a wide range of such engineering applications due to their higher
stiffness and strength when compared with conventional aluminium alloys. In the present
investigation Al 7075 alloy was chosen as matrix material because of its wider applications for
markets like the aerospace and automotive industries (valve body and connecting rod
applications).
Corrosion Test
Corrosion is the destructive attack of metal by chemical or electrochemical reaction with its
environment. Reddish brown rust formation of iron/steel, tarnishing copper and silver, white product
formation on zinc are some examples of corrosion. Deterioration by physical means is called erosion,
galling or wear. Swelling of plastics, decay of wood, erosion of granite or leaching away of Portland
cement are not included in the definition of corrosion. “Rusting” refers specifically to the corrosion of
iron and iron base alloys. Non-ferrous metals corrode but do not rust.

Potentiodynamic Polarization Technique

Mixed potential theory forms the basis for Tafel extrapolation method used to determine corrosion
rate. The Tafel plot is as an illustration of the Tafel equation. This equation is mainly used in
electrochemical kinetics connecting the overpotential rate to the electrochemical reaction rate.

The Tafel plot presents the results of the equation and is used to identify information such as

 Rate of pitting

 Passivity

 Corrosion susceptibility

 Rate of corrosion

With this technique, the corrosion current (icorr) can be identified and used to compute the rate
of corrosion. By using the Tafel equation, functional plots can be illustrated to aid in finding the rate
of corrosion. The plot shows the X axis represents the log current (logi) value and the Y axis
represents the potential (E) value. The value of icorr can be calculated by using Tafel constant values
such as Ba + Bc as well as the rate of pitting (Rp). The Ba value can be identified by obtaining the
anodic curve portion and the Bc value for the equivalent cathodic part.
The Tafel equation is of the form:
* Icorr = Ecorr (ba + bc)/ Rp
By utilizing the above equation as well as the Rp value, the icorr is obtained. With this, the rate of
corrosion can be computed based on this value in mm/year.
The corrosion rate can be calculated by using the equation as follows:
*Corrosion Rate = Icorr K Eqwt
dA
where Icorr is the corrosion current in Amperes, K is a constant that defines the units for the corrosion
rate, Eqwt is the equivalent weight in gram/equivalent, d is the density in g/cm3, A is the sample area
in cm2

In electrochemical corrosion testing, two different approaches are apparent.

  Control of current (i.e., corrosion rate) and
 Control of potential (i.e., the oxidizing power) and measuring the resulting current
In each case the potential of an electrode in a conducting medium is changed by the flow of
current in the electrolytic cell .The formation of the mixed potential of a corroding metal surface is
illustrated in the polarization diagram sometimes called Evans diagrams. The determination of these
polarization curves and the corrosion rate of a specimen can be done very quickly.
A complete curve can be determined in an hour in laboratory setup, whereas the conventional method
to determine corrosion rate, i.e., by weight loss measurements takes several days or weeks. The
schematic Fig.4. illustrates some of the terminologies in a polarization diagram, which is plotted
potential vs log current density. The solid lines represent the net anodic and cathodic currents for each
reaction, while the dashed lines represent the forward and backward parts of each reaction. The
intersection of the dashed lines gives the open circuit corrosion potential, Ecorr (ϕcorr) (when applied
current density, Iappl=0) and the corrosion current density icorr . The intersection of the dashed lines
gives the reversible potential for the reaction and its exchange current density. The anodic polarization
curve is predominant at potentials more +ve (noble) than Ecorr and cathodic polarization curve is
predominant at potentials more -ve (active) than Ecorr. βa and βc are the Tafel slopes in anodic and
cathodic reactions and the intersection gives corrosion exchange current density. The corrosion rate of
the system is proportional to icorr, which is determined by the intersection between the total reduction
rate and the total oxidation rate. Polarization measurements have been used to
(1) Study the effect of change of material composition or environment on corrosion rate.
(2) Develop alloys with improved corrosion resistance.
(3) Control quality during manufacture of a specific material of known behavior.
(4) Measure corrosion rate of structure which are not easily accessible like underground pipe line,
tanks and large chemical plant components.
(5) Determine corrosion rates lesser than 0.1 mpy, which are important in pharmaceutical and food
industries.

Test Apparatus
The set up is also called as 3-Electrode system which consists of 3 different electrodes namely,
 Saturated calomel electrode
 Platinum electrode (Counter electrode)
 Working electrode (Test specimen)
And a electrochemical analyzer called CH Instrument.
The tests were conducted on both as-cast and as- heat treated using 3.5% of NaCl solution and 1M of
HCl solution as electrolytic solution.
Results and Discussions

0% Alumina ( in HCL) 5% Alumina (in HCL)

10% Alumina(in HCL) 15% Alumina(in HCL)

Table(1) . Result obtained in 1M HCl Solution

 0% Alumina (in NaCl) 5% Alumina (in NaCl)

10% Alumina (in NaCl) 15% Alumina (in NaCl)

Table(2). Result obtained in 3.5% NaCl Solution

The 15% Alumina (reinforcement) has the highest corrosion resistence compared to other varied
percentage of Alumina reinforcement
Wear Test

It is defined as a process of removal of material from one or both of two solid surfaces in solid
contact. Wear is defined as “the damage to a solid surface, generally involving the progressive loss of
material, due to relative motion between two moving surfaces”. Such a process is complicated,
involving time-dependent deformation, failure and removal of materials at the counter face.

Pin on Disc Experiment

Pin on disk wear testing is a method of characterizing the coefficient of friction, frictional force and
rate of wear between two materials. As a particularly versatile method for testing wear resistence , pin
on disk can be configured in multiple scenarios depending on the goals of your project.

Wear test monitor parameters:

 Wear Parameters:
The variables involved in wear test are:

• Normal load

• Sliding velocity

• speed

Wear behaviour of the fabricated samples is combined affected by the above parameters.

The tests were conducted on both as-cast and as- heat treated. A sliding velocity of 2 m/sec, was kept
constant using a pin on disc wear monitor. The pin shaped specimen was made slide against mild steel
discs. The pin shaped specimen was subjected to a varying load of 1kg to 5 kg.

SL No % of Alumina LOAD IN Initial weight Final weight Difference (in

NEWTONS of specimen of specimen gms)
(in gms) (in gms)
1 0 10 10.893 10.881 0.012
2 5 10 10.922 10.912 0.01
3 10 10 10.556 10.544 0.012
4 15 10 11.109 11.092 0.017

SL No % of Alumina Load in Initial weight Final weight Difference (in

Newtons of specimen of specimen gms)
(in gms) (in gms)
1 0 50 10.074 10.059 0.015
2 5 50 10.718 10.702 0.016
3 10 50 10.630 10.612 0.018
4 15 50 10.512 10.490 0.022

WEAR RESISTENCE COMPARISION GRAPH OF ALL THE ALLOYS AT

10N NORMAL LOAD
WEAR RESISTENCE COMPARISION GRAPH OF ALL THE ALLOYS AT
50N NORMAL LOAD
From the obtained graphs it is clear that 15% Alumina (reinforcement) has the highest wear resistance
property at minimum and extreme normal loads

CONCLUSION
 The Alumina and Zinc oxide content in Al7075 alloys play a significant role in the corrosion
resistance of the material. Increase in the percentage of Alumina and Zinc oxide will be
advantageous to reduce the density and increase in the strength of the alloy, but the corrosion
resistance is thereby significantly increased.

 The increase in sliding velocity resulted in increased strain rate leading to increased
hardness which in turn leads to reduced area of contact resulting in reduced wear rate.

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