Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Materials Today: Proceedings 18 (2019) 4034–4041 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

ICMPC-2019

Synthesis, Microstructure And Mechanical Properties Of

Magnesium Matrix Composites Fabricated By Stir Casting
Arabinda Mehera*, Manas Mohan Mahapatraa, Priyaranjan Samala, Pandu R Vundavillia,
S P Madavanb
a
School of Mechanical Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Odisha - 752050, India
b
Foundry and Forge Division, Hindustan Aeronatics Ltd., Bengaluru, Karnataka - 560017, India

Abstract

In the present study, magnesium RZ5 alloy based metal matrix composites have been developed using stir casting route, with
B4C powder as reinforcement. Microstructural study of the base alloy and the composites have been carried out using field
emission scanning electron microscope. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy was conducted to know the presence of different
elements. The effects of reinforcement on the mechanical properties of the composites were investigated by taking 2, 4 and 6 wt.
% of B4C powder. Significant improvement in hardness, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength was observed in the
composite compared to the base alloy. The hardness of the composite was found to be 124 VHN for reinforcement of 6 wt. % of
B4C, for the base alloy hardness value was 72 VHN. Ultimate tensile strength of the material increased from 145 MPa to 169
MPa as a result of B4C reinforcement.

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the 9th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization, ICMPC-2019

Keywords: RZ5 alloy; Metal Matrix Composite; Stir Casting; Microstructure; Hardness; Tensile strength.

1. Introduction

Aluminium and magnesium are the preferred material for low weight structural applications. Considering the
weight factor for high energy efficient structural applications, magnesium is approximately 33 % lighter than

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-8763396357.

E-mail address: arabinda147@gmail.com

2214-7853 © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the 9th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization, ICMPC-2019
 A. Meher et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 18 (2019) 4034–4041 4035

aluminium and 75 % lighter than steel [1]. Magnesium alloys were developed for some specific use in automobile
and aerospace industries [2]. Since last few decades researchers are developing composite materials to achieve
improved mechanical properties. Metal matrix composites have been developed by using metal and ceramic
materials to achieve properties like higher specific strength, hardness and wear resistance [3]. Magnesium based
metal matrix have been in demand in many industries because of its high specific strength, good cast-ability, better
damping properties and superior machinability [4]. These magnesium matrix composites can be developed using
various reinforcement (TiC, TiB2, WC, B4C and SiC etc.) [5], by using process like stir casting [6], powder
metallurgy [7], preform infiltration [8] and spray deposition [9] to achieve the desired mechanical properties.
Stir casting is most common and economical method used for the development of metal matrix composites. In
this method the base material is melted in a furnace and the preheated reinforcement particle is added to it and is
stirred continuously. Inert atmosphere is maintained inside the furnace to avoid oxidation. After continuous stirring
for some time the reinforcement is distributed uniformly into the molten metal. The liquid composites are then
poured into a pre-heated mould and are solidified [10]. It is also necessary to optimize the stirring time and melt
temperature to achieve the uniform distribution of the reinforcements in the molten metal and to avoid the reaction
between the reinforcement and the matrix phases [11]. Anil et al. [12] developed a metal matrix composites by
various stir casting process and concluded that vacuum assisted stir casting is most suitable for magnesium based
composites. They also had reported that reinforcing with SiC in AZ91 magnesium alloy improved the ductility of
the composite. Researchers reported that by reinforcing the ceramic materials the mechanical properties like
hardness and yield strength is enhanced but the ductility and ultimate tensile strength of the material is deteriorated
[13, 14] . Wang et al. [15]fabricated the magnesium matrix composites by stir casting assisted with ultrasonic
treatment and noticed that the process resulted in uniform distribution of reinforcement and better grain refinement
along with improved mechanical properties. Magnesium matrix composites were developed by using B4C as
reinforcement in ZA43 and AZ91 alloys, this ceramic reinforcement resulted in significant improvement of the
wear resistance of the metal matrix [15, 16].
Literatures describing the effect of ceramics reinforcement in rare earth based magnesium matrix composites are
in rare, hence in the present work magnesium matrix composite was developed using B4C as reinforcement material
by stir casting process taking magnesium RZ5 alloy as base material. The effect of B4C particles on the mechanical
properties of the composites was also studied.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1 Materials
In the present study RZ5 alloy is used as the base material. Zinc and rare earth elements like cerium and
neodymium are the major alloying elements of the aforementioned alloy. The elemental composition of the alloy is
given in Table 1. For reinforcement, B4C powder (99 % purity) with an approximate grain size of 40-50 microns is
used.
Table 1. Elemental composition of magnesium RZ5 alloy
Element Zn Zr Rare earth Mg
Composition (%) 3.5-5.0 0.4-1.0 0.8-1.7 Remaining

2.2 Composite development

To develop the composite the cast block was cut as per the required dimension and melted in a graphite crucible
at 750 °C in induction furnace. The schematic representation of the furnace is shown in Figure 1. The B4C powder
was preheated in another furnace to 500 °C, was poured into molten magnesium alloy and stirred continuously using
a stirrer at 200 RPM for 10 min to get the uniform distribution of the reinforcement material. To avoid oxidation
inert atmosphere was maintained throughout the process. Once the stirring was completed the molten composite is
poured into a steel die and allowed to cool at room temperature. The composites were developed with 2, 4 and 6 wt.
% of B4C powder.
4036 A. Meher et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 18 (2019) 4034–4041

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of furnace setup

2.3 Testing of materials

Microstructural characterization and elemental analysis of both base material and fabricated composites was done
using ZEISS MERLIN Compact field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and energy dispersive x-ray
spectroscopy (EDX). Hardness of the composite samples were evaluated using Omnitech Semi-automatic micro
hardness tester by applying a load of 500 gf with a dwell time of 10 s. For better accuracy, readings were taken at
five different points in each sample. Tensile test of the composites was carried out in INSTRON 5982 universal
testing machine (UTM). ASTM E8 standard was followed to prepare the sample for test. Wire EDM was used to cut
the sample.
3. Results and discussions
3.1 Characterization of the base materials
Microstructural analysis of magnesium RZ5 alloy and B4C powder were carried out by using FESEM. Figure 2
(a-b)shows the micrograph of RZ5 alloy at different magnification. The micrograph clearly shows the hexagonal
closed packed structure of the magnesium RZ5 alloy. To confirm the different alloying elements present in the alloy
Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was done. EDX analysis of the alloy is shown in Figure 3(a-b). From
the EDX analysis it is clear that the composition of zinc and cerium is same as our standard chemical composition.

Fig. 2: FESEM micrograph of magnesium RZ5 alloy at (a) 500X and (b) 2500X
 A. Meher et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 18 (2019) 4034–4041 4037

Figure 4 (a-b) shows the FESEM micrograph of B4C powder. From the micrograph it is clear that average
particle size of B4C powder is around 45 micron. EDX analysis of the powder confirmed that purity of B4C powder
is around 99 % with a minor content of oxide.

Fig. 3: EDX analysis of magnesium RZ5 alloy

(b)

Fig. 4: (a) FESEM micrograph showing the particle size, (b) EDX analysis of B4C powder
4038 A. Meher et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 18 (2019) 4034–4041

3.2 Characterization of the cast composites

The microstructure of the cast B4C reinforced magnesium matrix composite at different magnification is shown
in Figure 5 (a-b). Micrograph shows that B4C particles are uniformly distributed in magnesium matrix with little
agglomeration. EDX analysis shown in Figure 6 (Spectrum 1) reveals that the B4C particles are uniformly
distributed in the magnesium matrix along with other alloying elements of the base alloy with a minor amount of
oxygen. Elemental analysis shown in Figure 6 (Spectrum 2) indicates the presence of B4C along with small amount
of oxygen. Presence small amount of Au is because of the gold coating on the material which is done to make the
material more conductive before FESEM.

(a) (b) B4C

B4C

Fig. 5: FESEM micrograph cast composites at (a) 200X and (b) 1000X

Fig. 6: EDX analysis of the composites at two different spectrum

A. Meher et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 18 (2019) 4034–4041 4039
4040 A. Meher et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 18 (2019) 4034–4041

From the stress strain curve it is clear that there is an improvement in the yield strength and tensile strength of the
composites with increase in the amount of reinforcement but the tensile strain of the material is decreasing. It
indicates that there is a decrease in ductility of the materials with the increase in reinforcement content. The ultimate
tensile strength of the composite containing 6 wt. % B4C is 169 MPa whereas for the base magnesium RZ5 alloy the
ultimate tensile strength is 145MPa. The increase in ultimate tensile strength of the composite is because of high tri-
axial stress formed in the ductile matrix phase which inhibit the deformation of the composites [18].

Fig. 9: FESEM micrograph of tensile fracture surface (a) Magnesium RZ5 alloy, (b) 6 wt. % B4C reinforced composite

The tensile fracture surface of magnesium RZ5 alloy and 6 wt. % B4C reinforced composite are shown in Figure
9 (a) and (b) respectively. From the FESEM micrograph, it is clearly noticed the dimple fracture on the surface
which indicate that ductile mode of fracture occurs in magnesium RZ5 alloy. In case of composite due to the
interfacial stress, crack is initiated at the interface of reinforcement and the matrix. In this case very less amount of
dimples are observed which indicate brittle mode of fracture. Some micro voids are also observed on the fracture
surface in both base alloy and composite. Few cracks are observed on the fracture surface, which is due to the
propagation of micro crack at the grain boundary.

4. Conclusions
Magnesium RZ5 alloy based metal matrix composites is fabricated successfully by using stir casting route by
using 2, 4 and 6 wt. % of B4C particles. SEM micrograph showed the uniform distribution of B4C particles with the
minimal agglomeration. EDX analysis showed that there was no interfacial product formed during the casting. A
minor amount of oxide observed in EDX analysis can be avoided by providing proper argon shielding during
casting. The hardness of the material was increased from 72 VHN to 124 VHN by reinforcing up to 6 wt. % of B4C.
Significant improvement in yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the composites was observed compared to
the base alloy, while the ductility of the material decreased with increase in amount of reinforcement.

References

[1] L. Ceschini et al., Aluminum and Magnesium Metal Matrix Nanocomposites. 2017.
[2] S. Fleming, An Overview of Magnesium based Alloys for Aerospace and Automotive Applications by, 2012, pp. 1–36.
[3] F. C. Campbell, Metal Matrix Composites. ACADEMIC PRESS, INC., 2006.
[4] N. Niraj, K. Murari, A. Dey, Mater. Today Proc., 5 (2018) 20138–20144.
[5] Q. C. Jiang, X. L. Li, H. Y. Wang, Scr. Mater., 48 (2003) 713–717.
[6] J. Hashim, L.Looney, M. S. J. Hashmi, J. Mater. Process. Technol., 92–93 (1999) 1–7.
[7] A. Meher, D. Chaira, Trans. Indian Inst. Met., 70 (2017), 2047-2057.
[8] S. Pfeiffer, H. Lorenz, Z. Fu, T. Fey, P. Greil, N. Travitzky, Ceram. Int., 44 (2018) 20835–20840.
[9] Q. Wang et al., Surf. Coatings Technol., 352 (2018), 627–633.
 A. Meher et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 18 (2019) 4034–4041 4041

[10] J. J. Moses, I. Dinaharan, S. J. Sekhar, Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China (English Ed.), 26 (2016) 1498–1511.
[11] S. Tjong, Mater. Sci. Eng. R Reports, 29 (2000) 49–113.
[12] A. Kumar, S. Kumar, N. K. Mukhopadhyay, J. Magnes. Alloy., 6 (2018) 245–254.
[13] R. Rahmany-Gorji, A. Alizadeh, H. Jafari, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 674 (2016) 413–418.
[14] J. Hu, X. Zhang, C. Tang, Y. Deng, Z. Liu, L. Yang, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 571 (2013), 19–24.
[15] X. J. Wang et al., Mater. Des., 57 (2014) 638–645.
[16] B. Adaveesh, G. M. Halesh, V. Kumar, Mater. Today Proc., 4 (2017) 10957–10964.
[17] N. Singh, J. Singh, B. Singh, N. Singh, Mater. Today Proc., 5 (2018) 19976–19984.
[18] X. Pang, Y. Xian, W. Wang, P. Zhang, J. Alloys Compd., 768 (2018) 476–484.