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Phase I Project Report
Phase I Project Report
MATRIX COMPOSITE
PROJECT REPORT
PHASE I
Submitted to the
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
In partial fulfillment for the award of the degree
Of
MASTER OF ENGINEERING
IN
COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN
By
MARLON JONES LOUIS
Reg No: 081007801005
SALEM-11
BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
In the field of material science and engineering, there is a great impact ever
since the invention of composites materials. High strength and lightweight remain
the winning combination that propels composite materials into new arenas. The
composite materials replace conventional materials like steel, cast iron and
aluminum alloys by its superficial properties. As literatures were collected, it could
be found that metal matrix composites are under serious consideration as potential
candidate materials. To replace conventional materials in aerospace and automotive
applications. In this project, composites based on aluminum alloy (Al 2024)
reinforced with 10% volume fraction of Silicon Carbide Particulates (SiC) and 5 %
volume fraction of Graphite particles is produced by stir casting method. The
fabricated composite is tested in order to find its properties and the specimen is
analyzed using Ansys software version 10.0. in order to study on cracks
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 OBJECTIVE
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
3. COMPOSITE MATERIALS
3.3APPLICATION OF COMPOSITES
4.2.2.2 Infiltration
5. CRACKS
6. FABRICATION OF COMPOSITE
7. CONCLUSION
8. APPENDICES
9. REFERNCES
LIST OF TABLES
ABBREVATIONS
Gr Graphite
INTRODUCTION
Humans have been using composite materials for thousands of years. The
greatest advantage of composite materials is strength and stiffness combined with
lightness. In Modern aviation, both military and civil would be much less efficient
without composites. In fact, the demands made by that industry for materials that are
both light and strong has been the main force driving the development of
composites. The airframes of some smaller aircraft are made entirely from
composites, as are the wing, tail and body panels of large commercial aircraft.
Composites can be molded into complex shapes. Another advantage of composite
materials is that they provide design flexibility. Over recent decades many new
composites have been developed, some with very valuable properties. There are
varieties of composites that can be manufactured according to the requirements of
desired properties for a particular application.
LITERATURE REVIEW
When high Si content is alloyed into Al, it adds a large amount of heat
capacity that must be removed from the alloy to solidify it during a casting
operation. Significant variation in the sizes of the primary Si particles can be found
between different regions of the cast article, resulting in a significant variation in the
mechanical properties for the cast article. The primary crystals of Si must be refined
in order to achieve hardness and good wear resistance. On the other hand, the usage
of hypoeutectic and eutectic alloys are very popular for the industry, because they
are more economical to produce by casting, simpler to control the cast parameters,
and easier to machine than hypereutectic. However, most of them are not suitable for
high temperature applications, such as in the automotive field, for the reason that
their mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, are not as high as desired in the
temperature range of 500° F.-700° F. Current state-of-the-art hypoeutectic and
eutectic alloys are intended for applications at temperatures of not higher than about
450° F. The undesirable microstructure and phase transformation results in
drastically reduced mechanical properties, more particularly the ultimate tensile
strength and high cycle fatigue strengths, for hypoeutectic and eutectic Al--Si alloys.
Vikram Singh and R.C. Prasad has fabricated and analyzed the tensile and
fracture behavior of 6061 Al-SiCp metal matrix Composite by reinforcing with 5%,
10% and 15 volume % SiC particles. Vidya Sagar Avadutala has analyzed the cracks
in composite materials (aluminum and low carbon steel) using Ansys.
CHAPTER 3
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
1. Particulate composites
2. Fibrous composites
3. Laminate composites
The length of a fiber affects the properties of the composites and also its
processing characteristics. Generally continuous fibres are easier to handle than
short fibres. The fiber reinforced composites are of interest in aerospace applications
where weight saving is of great importance
The most significant aspect of these data was the increase in modulus
over that of competitive aluminum alloys. At 20 % vol reinforcement, the modulus
of SiC/Al composites was about 50% above that of aluminum and approached that
of titanium. This increase in modulus was achieved with a material having a density
one-third less than that of titanium. Comparison of the properties of the various
composites shows that the modulus/density ratio of 20 vol % SiC/Al composites was
about 50% greater than that of Al or Ti alloys, while at 30 vol % SiC the advantage
was increased to about 70% and at 40 vol % SiC the modulus was almost double that
of unreinforced Al or Ti structural alloys
CHAPTER 4
Fabrication methods are important part of the design process for all
structural materials including MMCs. Considerable work is under way in this critical
area. Different manufacturing techniques are used to fabricate the metal matrix
composites. They can be classified into,
The different processing routes for MMCs are briefly discussed in the following
sections.
There are two principal groups of solid state fabrication of Metal Matrix
Composites:
1. Diffusion bonding
2. Sintering.
4.2.1.2 SINTERING
The simplest and the most cost effective method of liquid state
fabrication is Stir Casting.
Stir Casting is a liquid state method of composite materials fabrication,
in which a dispersed phase (ceramic particles, short fibres) is mixed with a molten
matrix metal by means of mechanical stirring.
2. There may be gravity segregation of the dispersed phase due to a difference in the
densities of the dispersed and matrix phase.
4.2.2.2 INFILTRATION
The method allows using non-coated fibres due to short contact time of the
fibres with the hot metal.In contrast to the methods using mechanical force, Gas
Pressure Infiltration results in low damage of the fibres.
A perform of dispersed phase (particles, fibres) is placed into the lower fixed
mold half.
A molten metal in a predetermined amount is poured into the lower mold half.
The upper movable mold half (ram) moves downwards and forces the liquid
metal to infiltrate the pre form.
The part is removed from the mold by means of the ejector pin.
The method is used for manufacturing simple small parts (automotive engine pistons
from aluminum alloy reinforced by alumina short fibres).
In situ synthesized particles and fibres are smaller than those in materials with
separate fabrication of dispersed phase (ex-situ MMCs). Fine particles provide
better strengthening effect;
CHAPTER 5
CRACKS
A crack is a type of fracture that separates a solid body into two, or more, pieces
under the action of stress. There are three types of modes of failure [4].
Mode I: The forces are perpendicular to the crack (the crack is horizontal and the
forces are vertical), pulling the crack open. This is referred to as the opening mode.
Mode II: The forces are parallel to the crack. One force is pushing the top half of the
crack back and the other is pulling the bottom half of the crack forward, both along
the same line. This creates a shear crack: the crack is sliding along itself. It is called
in-plane shear because the forces are not causing the material to move out of its
original plane.
Mode III: The forces are perpendicular to the crack (the crack is in front-back
direction, the forces are pulling left and right). This causes the material to separate
and slide along itself, moving out of its original plane (which is why it’s called
out-of-plane shear).
CHAPTER 6
FABRICATION OF COMPOSITES
Element Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Zn Ti V Zr Al
Nominal 0.50 0.50 3.8 to 0.30 1.20 0.25 0.15 0.15 0.15 Balance
Composition max max 7.90 to to max max max max
% ( Weight) 0.90 1.80
Actual 0.24 0.20 4.43 0.47 1.32 0.07 0.22 0.01 0.01 Balance
Comp%
(Weight)
The typical Composition of the matrix material is shown in the following table.
Element Weight in %
Al 93.50
Cu 4.4
Mg 1.5
Mn 0.6
SiC particles are the most commonly used reinforcement materials in the
discontinuously reinforced metal-matrix composite system. Aluminum matrix
composites reinforced with SiC particulates provide for a low-cost, high-modulus
material that can be processed via conventional powder metallurgy techniques. With
increased additions of SiC reinforcement, the modulus increases, and losses in
strength, ductility, and toughness may occur. Also, the role of the interfacial bond
between SiC particulates and the aluminum matrix may further detract from the
mechanical properties when the composite is subjected to high temperatures. Particle
size and shape are important factors in determining materials properties. Fatigue
strength is greatly improved with the use of fine particles.
STIR CASTING
The stir casting technique was used to fabricate the composite specimen
as it ensures a more uniform distribution of the reinforcing particles. This method is
most economical to fabricate composites with discontinuous fibers or particulates. In
this process, matrix alloy (Al 2024) was first superheated above its melting
temperature and then temperature is lowered gradually below the liquidus
temperature to keep the matrix alloy in the semisolid state. At this temperature, the
preheated Sic particles of 10 % (by weight) and graphite particle of average size of
23 µm and 45 µm respectively were introduced into the slurry and mixed using a
graphite stirrer.
The composite slurry temperature was increased to fully liquid state and
automatic stirring was continued to about five minutes at an average stirring speed of
300-350 rpm under protected organ gas. The SiCp particles help in distributing the
graphite particles uniformly throughout the matrix alloy. The melt was then
superheated above liquidus temperature and finally poured into the cast iron
permanent mould for testing specimen. The specification of the fabricated billet
composite is150 mm length and 50 mm width and a thickness of 20 mm
The composite metal after been ejected from the mold is then rolled in a hot
rolling machine up to 15 passes. This is done in order to help in distributing the
silicon carbide particulates in the metal matrix and thereby improving the
mechanical properties. The billet composite, due to hot rolling reduces its thickness
and as an end result edge cracks are being formed.
CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION
The relevant materials and the selection criteria have been collected and
identified. The type of crack and material properties have been studied in phase –I.
In the phase-II project, the composite metal is fabricated, hot rolled and the
analysis of the fabricated composite with edged cracks is studied and the outcome
will be the solution for different applications of the composite material in the field of
aerospace and automotive industries.
CHAPTER 8
APPENDICES
CHAPTER 9
REFERENCES
Text Books
Websites
www.efunda.com
www.springerlink.com
www.google.com