Effect of B₄C variation on the mechanical, fractographic and tribological performance of hybrid composites Al7075/Gr/ZrO₂
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1950-7397
H. C. Chittappa
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore University, Bangalore-560001, Karnataka, India
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6897-1967
Praveena Bindiganavile Anand
Department of Mechanical Engineering Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Yelahanka, Bangalore, 560064, Karnataka, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7250-4599
Manjunath Vatnalmath
Department of Mechanical Engineering, RNS Institute of Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3138-9453
Madeva Nagaral
Aircraft Research and Design Centre, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore-560037, Karnataka, India
Abstract
The current study focuses on the influence of varying levels of boron-carbide (B4C) particles on mechanical and tribological characteristics of Al7075 hybrid composites that are strengthened by fixed percentages of graphite (Gr) and zirconia (ZrO2). Hybrid composites were made by stir casting the 2 and 4 wt.% of B4C to Al7075-Gr-ZrO2 matrix in two-steps. The reinforcements were evenly spread throughout the matrix was confirmed by analysis through electron microscopy SEM together with elemental mapping through energy dispersive spectroscopy was utilized. Microstructural properties, tensile, hardness, and wear behaviour of the resulting hybrid composites were tested. The findings suggest that the adding of 4 wt.% B4C shall improve the hardness of Al7075 hybrid reinforced composites to 87 BHN, the UTS by 37% (214 MPa to 293 MPa) and vice versa slight decrease in ductility was attributed due to the addition of B4C. The tribological study revealed that the resistance to wear increased with additions of B4C as the hard ceramic particles served as load bearing phases. These results demonstrate the importance of B4C variation in improving mechanical and tribological behaviour of Al7075-Gr-ZrO2 hybrid reinforced composites in potential structural and aerospace application.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
How to Cite
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Authors are allowed to retain both the copyright and the publishing rights of their articles without restrictions.
Open Access Statement
Fracture and Structural Integrity (F&SI) is an open-access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the DOAI definition of open access.
F&SI operates under the Creative Commons Licence Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0). This allows to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, to remix, transform and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, but giving appropriate credit, providing a link to the license, and indicating if changes were made.