Abstract:
Small pieces of alloy were placed in the crucible. preheated silicon carbide (SiC) And Fly Ash(FA) was used as the reinforcements. produced by stir casting process. Cut pieces of alloy Al6061 were preheated at 450oC for 1h before melting. Firstly SiC and Fly Ash particles were heated at 800oC for 2 hrs. before adding preheated SiC and Fly Ash particles in to Al6061 melt, 1Wt% of Mg is added to melt to improve the wettability between matrix and reinforcement. The furnace temperature was raised above the liquidus temperature to melt the alloy completely and care was taken to maintain the temperature of the melt at 710oC. The literature survey suggests formation of Al4C3 in Al-SiC composites which were produced by stir casting at higher temperature. In the present study EDS analysis confirmed nil presence of any such faces. Mechanical mixing was carried out about 7 minutes at an average stirring speed of 350 rpm during mixing processes at a controlled temperature within 710oC. The pouring temperature was controlled to be around 700oC. A preheated permanent mould with diameters in the range of 10 mm and 25 mm was used to prepare cast bars.
Keywords: Silicon carbide,fly ash,metal matrix composite,alumenium matrix composite,ageing,scanning electron microscope,wettability,energy disperion analysis.