Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

A re-investigation: Effect of powder metallurgy parameters on the

physical and mechanical properties of aluminium matrix composites
Naveen Kumar a,⇑, Ajaya Bharti a, Kuldeep K. Saxena b
a
Applied Mechanics Department, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Prayagraj 211004, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, GLA University, Mathura 281 406, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Aluminium matrix composites are the special class materials used in automobile, aerospace, nuclear, and
Received 3 December 2020 packing industries. High demand for these materials is due to high electrical conductivity, high thermal
Accepted 9 December 2020 conductivity, high strength, high wear resistance, high ductility, and excellent machinability. Stir casting,
Available online xxxx
friction stir processing, and powder metallurgy are common techniques used for the fabrication of
Aluminium matrix composites. Some of the advantages of the powder metallurgy technique such as, high
Keywords: material utilization, less power consumption, and less scrap, etc.; are the main reasons for the inclination
Aluminium
of researchers towards the use of this technique for the fabrication of Aluminium matrix composites. The
Powder metallurgy
Metal matrix composites
Powder metallurgy process parameters, i.e., compaction pressure, sintering temperature, and sintering
Compaction pressure time, highly influence the physical and mechanical properties of Aluminium matrix composites fabri-
Sintering temperature cated by powder metallurgy. The type and weight fraction of reinforcement also have a significant effect
Sintering time on the physical and mechanical properties of Aluminium matrix composites. In the present study, re-
investigation has been done on the effect of the above parameters on the physical and mechanical prop-
erties of Aluminium matrix composites. During the literature survey, it was observed that, compaction
pressure is the most influencing parameter. The Density and porosity can be controlled effectively by
controlling the compaction pressure. For Aluminium-based materials fabricated by powder metallurgy,
the optimum range of compaction pressure, sintering temperature, and sintering time is 600–700 MPa,
520–600 °C, and 3–4 h, respectively.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Materials, Processing & Characterization.

1. Introduction
Aluminium-based Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) or Alu-
minium Matrix Composites (AMCs) are in high demand by aero-
space, automobile, defense, and packaging industries because of
its high strength, lightweight, and excellent tribological properties
[1,2]. There are various methods, i.e., stir casting, additive manu-
facturing, powder metallurgy, etc. by the AMCs can be fabricated
[3,4]. Powder metallurgy offers various advantages over other
MMC fabrication techniques such as low processing temperature,
low energy consumption, and high material utilization [5,6]. In
the powder metallurgy process, reinforcement materials (discrete
phases) are mixed with matrix material (continuous phase) and
compacted at sufficient pressure (depending on the required
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: chaudhary56naveen@gmail.com (N. Kumar).
porosity in the final material) to form the green compact [7,8].
Then the green compacts are heated at high temperature (usually
below the melting point of the matrix material) for sufficient time
so that diffusion bonding can take place [9]. The process of heating
and holding a green compact at a pre-determined temperature for
a pre-determined time period is known as sintering [10]. Com-
paction pressure, holding temperature, and holding time are the
most influencing parameters in the powder metallurgy process
[11]. Properties of a powder metallurgy product are highly depen-
dent on the above parameters. Reinforcement materials also play
an important role in deciding the properties of a composite mate-
rial [12]. Properties of a composite material depend on the nature
of reinforcement materials and the bonding of reinforcement
materials with the matrix material [13]. So, the selection of rein-
forcement should be made on the basis of the desired properties
in a composite material [14]. The percentage weight fraction of
reinforcement materials is also a critical parameter for the fabrica-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.12.351
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Materials, Processing & Characterization.

Please cite this article as: N. Kumar, A. Bharti and K.K. Saxena, A re-investigation: Effect of powder metallurgy parameters on the physical and mechanical
properties of aluminium matrix composites, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.12.351
N. Kumar, A. Bharti and K.K. Saxena
tion of composite material because properties of composite mate-
rial are determined by the rule of mixture [15]. Properties of a
composite material always lie in-between the properties of con-
stituent materials [16].
In the present work, a re-analysis is done on the influence of
reinforcement materials, compaction pressure, sintering time,
and sintering temperature on the physical and mechanical proper-
ties of AMCs fabricated by powder metallurgy technique. The effect
of the above parameters on the physical and mechanical properties
of AMCs fabricated by powder metallurgy technique is seen in the
next sections.
2. Effect of reinforcements
Physical and mechanical properties of a composite, i.e., density,
porosity, hardness, and tensile strength, are dependent on the type
and weight fraction of reinforcement materials [1]. Fig. 1 shows the
variation in sintered density, hardness, and tensile strength of
AMCs fabricated by powder metallurgy with varying weight frac-
tion of reinforcements.
Bayraktar et al. investigated the effect of the addition of Fe3O4
on the sintered density of Al/Fe3O4 composites fabricated by pow-
der metallurgy [2]. It can be seen in Fig. 1(a) that sintered density
increases with an increase in the weight fraction of Fe3O4. The
increase in the density can be attributed to the higher density of
Fe3O4 (5.17 g/cc) in comparison to the density of pure Aluminium
Fig. 1. Effect of various reinforcements on the (a) sintered density, (b) hardness, and (c) tensile strength of AMCs fabricated by powder metallurgy.
2
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(2.7 g/cc). Kumar et al. also observed the similar effect of reinforce-
ment on the sintered density of Al-15wt.%SiC/TiO2 hybrid compos-
ites [3]. As the density of TiO2 (4.23 g/cc) is more than the density
of pure Aluminium, the density of Al-15wt.%SiC/TiO2 hybrid com-
posites increases with the increase in the weight fraction of TiO2.
Jeevan et al. also observed the similar effect of varying weight frac-
tion of reinforcement on the sintered density of Aluminium alloy
6082 (AA6082) reinforced with zirconia toughened alumina
(ZTA) [4]. ZTA also has a higher density than AA6082, so the addi-
tion of ZTA increases the overall density of the composite. Abdullah
et al. also investigated the effect of weight fraction of reinforce-
ment on the sintered density of A/B4C composites [5]. It can be
seen in the graph that the sintered density decreases after the
addition of boron carbide (B4C). A decrease in density is due to
the lower density of B4C (2.52 g/cc) in comparison to the density
of Aluminium. Also, hard particles are not easy to deform. Hence,
restrict the arrangement of particles during the compaction pro-
cess and increase the porosity. Guo et al. observed the similar
effect of weight fraction of reinforcement on the density of AMCs
reinforced with fly ash [6]. As the density of fly ash is lower than
the density of pure Aluminium, the addition of fly ash decreases
the overall density of the composite material.
The influence of varying weight fraction of reinforcement on the
hardness of Aluminium alloy 6061 (AA6061) matrix composites
reinforced with B4C was studied by Karabulut et al. [7]. It can be
observed from Fig. 1(b) that hardness increased on the addition
N. Kumar, A. Bharti and K.K. Saxena
of B4C. An increase in the hardness can be attributed to the high
strength and hardness of the reinforcement material B4C. Hard
phase particles obstruct the dislocation motion and increase the
strength and hardness of a material. A similar effect of the addition
of hard particulate-reinforcement on the hardness of AA6082/ZTA
composites was observed by Jeevan et al. [4]. The hardness of the
AA6082/ZTA composites increased continuously, with an increase
in the weight fraction of ZTA. Kumar et al. also observed the similar
effect of the addition of TiO2 on the hardness of Al-15wt.%SiC/TiO2
hybrid composites [3]. Hardness increased continuously with the
addition of TiO2 because hard TiO2 particles obstruct the disloca-
tion motion and increase the strength of the composite material.
Saboori et al. investigated the effect of the addition of Graphene
Nano-platelets (GNPs) on the hardness of Al/GNPs composites
[8]. Hardness increased continuously on the addition of GNPs; this
can be due to the grain refinement in the material after the addi-
tion of GNPs. Bunakov et al. investigated the effect of the addition
of CNTs on the hardness of Al/CNTs composites [9]. Hardness first
increased after the addition of CNTs; this can be due to the grain
refinement in the material after the addition of CNTs. But, on fur-
ther increasing the weight fraction of CNTs, hardness started to
decrease. It can be due to the agglomeration of particles.
Karabulut et al. also investigated the effect of the addition of
B4C on the tensile strength of AA6061/B4C composites [7]. It can
be seen from the in Fig. 1(c) that the ultimate tensile stress first
increased on the addition of B4C, this can be attributed to the
obstruction of dislocation motion by hard B4C particles. But, on fur-
ther increasing the weight fraction of B4C, ultimate tensile stress
decreased; this can be due to the agglomeration of particles and
crack initiation from the voids present in the material. Nassar
et al. investigated the effect of TiO2 addition on the tensile strength
of Al/TiO2 nano-composites [10]. Like hardness, ultimate tensile
stress also increased continuously on the addition of TiO2 because
hard TiO2 particles obstruct the dislocation motion and increase
the strength. Bunakov et al. also investigated the effect of the addi-
tion of CNTs on the tensile strength of Al/CNTs composites [9]. Like
hardness, ultimate tensile stress first increased on the addition of
CNTs due to the grain refinement in the material. But, on the fur-
ther addition of CNTs, ultimate tensile stress decreased due to
the agglomeration of particles.
3. Effect of compaction pressure
Green density and hardness of composite material, fabricated
by powder metallurgy is mainly dependent on the compaction
Fig. 2. Effect of compaction pressure on the (a) green density and (b) hardness of Aluminium-based materials fabricated by powder metallurgy. (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
pressure. Soft materials are easy to deform in comparison to the
hard materials; hence high densification can be achieved for soft
materials at relatively low compaction pressure [11]. For hard
materials, high compaction pressure is required to reduce the
porosity in the material. Fig. 2 shows the variation in the green
density and hardness of Aluminium-based materials fabricated
by powder metallurgy with varying compaction pressure.
Tiwari et al. investigated the effect of compaction pressure on
the green density of the Al/Fe composites fabricated by powder
metallurgy [12]. Fig. 2(a) shows that green density increased con-
tinuously on increasing the compaction pressure. When a material
is pressed at high pressure, there is a deformation in the material,
and particle rearrangement takes place. At high pressure, powder
particles, bigger than the size of pores is also forced to move in
the pores. As a result, green density increases on increasing the
compaction pressure. Anand et al. also observed the similar effect
of compaction pressure on the green density of Aluminium alloy
6061 fabricated by powder metallurgy [13]. Green density
increased continuously on increasing the compaction pressure
and become nearly constant at compaction pressure around
650 MPa because of no further rearrangement of particles
Anand et al. also investigated the effect of compaction pressure
on the hardness of Al6061 fabricated by powder metallurgy [13].
Fig. 2(b) shows the hardness vs. compaction pressure graph of Alu-
minium based materials fabricated by powder metallurgy tech-
nique. Like green density, hardness also increased on increasing
the compaction pressure because of the reduced porosity after
compaction at high pressure. A slight reduction in the hardness
was observed for samples compacted at a pressure higher than
650 MPa; this can be due to the formation of micro-crack during
compaction at very high pressures. Prakash et al. also investigated
the similar effect of compaction pressure on the hardness of
Al6061 and Al6061/Rock-dust, fabricated by powder metallurgy
[14]. Hardness increased with an increase in the compaction pres-
sure due to the reduced porosity.
4. Effect of sintering temperature
Sintering is one of the most critical processes in powder metal-
lurgy. The sintered strength of a powder metallurgy product is
dependent on the extent of diffusion bonding between the parti-
cles. Rate and extent of diffusion are dependent on the sintering
temperature and sintering time, respectively, as the diffusion is
time and temperature-dependent phenomena. The rate of diffusion
is high at high temperature so that the material can diffuse easily
3
N. Kumar, A. Bharti and K.K. Saxena
Fig. 3. Effect of sintering temperature on the (a) density and (b) hardness of AMCs fabricated by powder metallurgy.
in the pores at high temperature [15]. But, at high temperature,
thermal expansion, and grain growth in the material also takes
place. Diffusion and grain growth are two opposing phenomena;
diffusion increase the strength of a powder metallurgy product,
while grain growth reduces the strength (Hall and Petch relation).
Fig. 3 shows the variation in the density and hardness of AMCs fab-
ricated by powder metallurgy with varying sintering temperature.
Tiwari et al. investigated the effect of sintering temperature on
the sintered density of the Al/Fe composites fabricated by powder
metallurgy [12]. It can be seen in Fig. 3(a) that sintered density Al/
Fe composites initially increased with the increase in the sintering
temperature, an increase in the density was due to the dominance
of diffusion phenomena over the thermal expansion in the mate-
rial. On increasing the sintering temperature over 550 °C, thermal
expansion in the material became dominant, and there was a
decrease in the sintered density. Umasankar et al. also investigated
the effect of sintering temperature on the sintered density of
Al6061/SiC composites fabricated by powder metallurgy [16]. It
was observed that the sintering density decreased sharply on
increasing sintering temperature. It shows that the thermal expan-
sion was dominant over diffusion phenomena due to the poor sin-
terability of Al6061/SiC composites at lower temperatures. A slight
increase in the density was observed for the sample sintered at
600 °C; this can be due to better diffusion of material at high
temperatures.
Fig. 4. Effect of sintering time on the (a) density and (b) hardness of Aluminium-based materials fabricated by powder metallurgy.
4
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Umasankar et al. also investigated the effect of sintering tem-
perature on the hardness of Al6061/SiC composites [16]. It can be
seen in Fig. 3(b) that the hardness decreased continuously on
increasing the sintering temperature; this can be attributed to
the increased porosity and grain growth in the material. Saboori
et al. also investigated the effect of sintering temperature on the
hardness of graphene (Gn) reinforced Aluminium matrix compos-
ites. There was a sharp increase in the hardness due to the excel-
lent sinterability of Al/Gn composites. Material diffused properly
in the pores, and strong diffusion bonding took place between
the particles. An increase in the hardness can also be attributed
to the increase in the density of Al/Gn composites on increasing
sintering temperature.
5. Effect of sintering time
As the extent of diffusion is dependent on the holding time, sin-
tering time is also a very crucial parameter in powder metallurgy
[17]. As the holding time at sintering temperature increases, the
extent of diffusion will also increase. At the same time, there will
be more grain growth and thermal expansion in the material
[18]. So, like sintering temperature, sintering time also has a mixed
effect on the strength of powder metallurgy [19]. Fig. 4 shows the
variation in the density and hardness of Aluminium-based materi-
als fabricated by powder metallurgy with varying sintering time.
N. Kumar, A. Bharti and K.K. Saxena
Umasankar et al. also investigated the effect of sintering time on
the sintered density of Al6061/SiC composites fabricated by pow-
der metallurgy [16]. Fig. 4(a) shows the sintered density vs. sinter-
ing temperature graph of Al6061/SiC composites. Like sintering
temperature, sintering time also had a mixed effect on the density
of the composites. Initially, density decreased sharply on increas-
ing the sintering time; this can be due to the dominance of thermal
expansion phenomena and poor sinterability of Al6061/SiC com-
posites. An increase in density was observed for samples sintered
for 180 min; this can be due to the dominance of diffusion over
the thermal expansion.
Guo et al. investigated the effect of sintering time on the hard-
ness of pure Al and Al/Fly-ash composites fabricated by powder
metallurgy technique [6]. It can be seen in Fig. 4(b) that the hard-
ness of both the pure Al and Al/Fly-ash composites initially
increased with the increase in the sintering time due to the
increased extent of diffusion and reduced porosity. On further
increasing the sintering time, a slight decrease in the hardness
was observed. The decrease in the hardness can be attributed to
the grain growth in the material. Umasankar et al. also investigated
the effect of sintering time on the hardness of Al6061/SiC compos-
ites fabricated by powder metallurgy [16]. The hardness of Al6061/
SiC composites decreased with an increase in sintering time. The
decrease in the hardness can be attributed to the increased poros-
ity and the grain in the material.
6. Conclusions
Following conclusions are drawn after the detailed literature
survey of Aluminium-based materials fabricated by powder
metallurgy:
 Physical and mechanical properties of Aluminium-based mate-
rials fabricated by powder metallurgy are highly influenced by
the powder metallurgy process parameters, i.e., compaction
pressure, sintering temperature, and sintering time.
 Physical properties such as density and porosity can be effec-
tively controlled by controlling the compaction pressure.
 Some applications required material with no porosity or very
less porosity, while other required material with high porosity.
So, by increasing or decrease the compaction pressure, porosity
can be decreased or increased.
 Out of the three powder metallurgy process parameters (i.e.,
compaction pressure, sintering temperature, and sintering
time), compaction pressure is the most influencing parameter
for the physical and mechanical properties of Aluminium-
based materials.
 Sintering temperature and sintering time also affect the physi-
cal and mechanical properties of Aluminium-based materials.
Sintering temperature and sintering time have a mixed effect
on the physical and mechanical properties.
 For Aluminium-based materials fabricated by powder metal-
lurgy, the optimum range of compaction pressure, sintering
temperature, and sintering time is 600–700 MPa, 520–600 °C,
and 3–4 h, respectively.
 Reinforcement materials also have a high influence on the phys-
ical and mechanical properties.
 Hard reinforcements (i.e., SiC, B4C, ZTA, TiO2, etc.) reduces com-
pressibility. Hence there is a decrease in the relative density (%
of theoretical density) on the addition of hard reinforcements.
Overall density depends on the density of matrix and reinforce-
ment material.
 Variation in the mechanical properties on the addition of rein-
forcement materials depends on the nature of reinforcement
materials. Hard reinforcements increase the strength by
5
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obstructing the dislocation motion. While reinforcements like
CNTs, GNPs, etc. increase the strength by inducing the grain
refinement in the material.
 There is always an optimum range of weight fraction of rein-
forcements. Above that range, there is a decrease in the
mechanical properties because of the agglomeration of parti-
cles. For nano reinforcements, usually small weight fraction in
the range, 0.5%-1% is optimum. While, for micro reinforcement,
weight fraction in the range 5%-10% is optimum.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Naveen Kumar: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data cura-
tion, Writing - original draft. Ajaya Bharti: Visualization, Investiga-
tion, Supervision. Kuldeep K. Saxena: Writing - review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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Further Reading
[1] D. Kumar, A. Bharti, S. M. Azam, N. Kumar, H. Tripathi, In: Biswal B., Sarkar B.,
Mahanta P. (eds) Advances in Mechanical Engineering, Lecture Notes in
Mechanical Engineering, Springer, Singapore, 2020, pp. 671-676.
[2] N. Kumar, A. Bharti, K.K. Saxena, Mater. Today:. Proc. 26 (2020) 1953–1959.
[3] N. Kumar, A. Bharti, H. Tripathi, In: Biswal B., Sarkar B., Mahanta P. (eds)
Advances in Mechanical Engineering, Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering,
Springer, Singapore, 2020, pp. 661-669.
[4] H. Tripathi, A. Bharti, A. Vishal, N. Kumar, In: Biswal B., Sarkar B., Mahanta P.
(eds) Advances in Mechanical Engineering, Lecture Notes in Mechanical
Engineering, Springer, Singapore, 2020, pp. 677-684.
[5] K. Kanthavel, K.R. Sumesh, P. Saravanakumar, Alexandria Eng. J. 55 (2016) 13–
17.
[6] H. Abdoli, H. Farnoush, E. Salahi, K. Pourazrang, Mater. Sci. Eng., A 486 (2008)
580–584.
[7] A.K. Bodukuri, K. Eswaraiah, K. Rajendara, V. Sampath, Perspect. Sci. 8 (2016)
428–431.
[8] S.E. Shin, Y.J. Ko, D.H. Bae, Compos. B 106 (2016) 66–73.
[9] M. Guojun, D. Yutian, J. Peipeng, Rare Metal Mater. Eng. 45 (2016) 1430–1436.
[10] M.K. Surappa, Sadhana 28 (2003) 319–334.
[11] B.V. Ramnath, C. Elanchezhian, R.M. Annamalai, S. Aravind, T.S.A. Atreya, V.
Vignesh, C. Subramanian, Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci. 38 (2014) 55–60.
[12] S. Li, Y. Su, Q. Ouyang, D. Zhang, Mater. Lett. 167 (2016) 118–121.
N. Kumar, A. Bharti and K.K. Saxena Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

[13] K. Venkateswarlu, S. Saurabh, V. Rajinikanth, R.K. Sahu, A.K. Ray, J. Mater. Eng. [15] M. Asif, K. Chandra, P.S. Misra, J. Miner. Mater. Charact. Eng. 10 (2011) 133–
Perform. 19 (2010) 231–236. 1344.
[14] O. Carvalh, M. Buciumeanu, S. Madeira, D. Soare, F.S. Silva, G. Miranda, [16] N.S. Kumar, R. Suresh, G.S. Shankar, Compos. Commun. (2020).
Compos. B (2016).