Effect of Deep Cryogenic Treatment on Microstructure, Mechanical and Fracture Properties of Aluminium-Al2o3 Metal Matrix Composites
Panchakshari H.V.1, Girish D. P.2, M Krishn3
1Panchakshari H.V, Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, VTU Resource Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
2Girish D.P., Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Engineering College, Ramanagara, Karnataka, India.
3M Krishna, Research and Development, R V College of Engineering, Bangalore, India.
Manuscript received on December 12, 2011. | Revised Manuscript received on December 26, 2011. | Manuscript published on January 05, 2012. | PP: 340-346 | Volume-1 Issue-6, January 2012. | Retrieval Number: F0340121611/2012©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The aim of this research work was to focus on the effect of deep cryogenic treatment on the microstructure, mechanical and fracture properties of Al6061/Al2O3 metal matrix composites (MMCs) at -196 C for different time duration. Al/Al2O3 metal matrix composites containing 5, 10, 15 and 20% of Al2O3 are produced by liquid metallurgy technique. After deep cryogenic treatment of samples at liquid nitrogen temperature, the microstructure of specimens shows the change in distribution of precipitates. The precipitate particles almost dissolved in the matrix and obtained very fine grain boundaries. The modification of microstructure of MMCs due to cryogenic treatment shows significant improvement in mechanical properties of the MMCs. The preferred orientation of grains was sufficiently corroborated by XRD results of Al/Al2O3 composite before and after cryogenic treatment.
Keywords: Metal Matrix Composites, Cryogenic treatment, microstructure, microhardness.