European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.68 No.4 (2012), pp. 606-615 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc.

. 2012 http://www.europeanjournalofscientificresearch.com

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Studies of Aluminium (7075) Alloy Matrix Composite Reinforced with Short Basalt Fibre
R. Karthigeyan Research Scholar, Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore Faculty Member-Adhiyamaan College of Engineering Hosur-635109, Tamil Nadu, India E-mail: karthikaeri@gmail.com G. Ranganath Research Supervisor and Principal, Adhiyamaan College of Engineering Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India E-mail: principal@adhiyamaan.ac.in S. Sankaranarayanan Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering National University of Singapore (NUS) 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576 Abstract In the current research work, aluminium (7075) alloy composites containing different volume fraction of short basalt fibre were successfully developed through the stir casting process. Characterization studies were conducted on the Al (7075) alloy andits composite samples to evaluate the mechanical and microstructural properties. The experimental strength values of the composites were then compared with the theoretical values. The mechanical properties evaluation reveals an improvement in hardness and the strength values with the amount of fibre addition. From the experimental studies, the optimum volume fraction of short basalt fibre in Al 7075 alloy on the basis of microstructure and mechanical properties is found to be 6 vol% .Microstructural characterizations of composite samples reveals the presence and homogeneous distribution of basalt fibres and the second phase precipitates in the Al matrix. The strength value comparisons with various theoretical studies suggest that the experimentally found values best suits the theoretical studies considering the random distribution of basalt fibres in the Al (7075) matrix. Keywords: Al (7075) matrix composites, Short basalt fibre, Mechanical properties, Microstructure.

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Studies of Aluminium (7075) Alloy Matrix Composite Reinforced with Short Basalt Fibre

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1. Introduction
The research and development of light weight metal matrix composites are gaining extensive attention in the recent years because of its superior mechanical properties and the potential weight savings [1-2]. In this context, the development of aluminum matrix composites reinforced with relatively cheaper and ecofriendly reinforcements are focused as these materials are highly preferred as the weight-saving engineering materials in the automobile, aerospace and mineral processing industries [3-5].The properties and behavior of various Al alloys and their composites are much explored in terms of microstructure, mechanical properties, loading conditions and applications [5-8]. The zinc containing Al (7075) alloy with a low density of 2810 kg/m3 possesses excellent combination of mechanical properties such as high specific strength, toughness and fatigue strength properties and is commonly used in the automobile and aerospace applications [9].The composites developed from such aluminum alloys are of wide interest owing to their high strength, fracture toughness, wear resistance and stiffness. Further, these composites reinforced with ceramic fibres / particulates are superior in nature when compared to the monolithic materials for elevated temperature applications [10]. From the literature study, the utilization of basalt fibre as an effective reinforcement in the case of polymer matrix composites (PMC) is identified [11-13], but in the case of metal matrix composites, the effect of short basalt fibre addition to Al(7075)alloy is not studied so far. Motivated by the reference works [11-13] on PMCs reinforced with basalt fibres, the present study aimed at the development of Al (7075) composites containing different volume fraction of short basalt fibre and to study their microstructure, hardness and the tensile properties.

2. Experimental Procedure
2.1. Materials Aluminum alloy (7075) supplied by Fenfe Metallurgical, Bangalore was used as the matrix material. Short Basalt Fibre (SBF) with the length of 1.5 mm to 2mm supplied by Muktagiri Industrial Corporation, was used as the fibre reinforcement. The chemical composition of both the matrix material and the reinforcement is shown in Tables 1 and 2 respectively.
Table 1:
Element %

Chemical composition of Al (7075)

Si 0.4 Fe 0.5 Cu 1.6 Mn 0.3 Mg 2.5 Cr 0.15 Zn 5.5 Ti 0.2 Al Bal

Table 2:
Element %

Chemical composition of basalt fibre

SiO2 69.51 Al2O3 14.18 Fe2O3 3.92 MgO 2.41 CaO 5.62 Na2O 2.74 K2O 1.01 TiO2 0.55 MnO 0.04

2.2. Processing The liquid metallurgy route with optimum care was used to synthesize the materials used for the study. The reinforcements were preheated before being introduced into the vortex. After reinforcement addition, the molten composite slurry was stirred for 10 minutes at 400 rpm. The pouring was conducted at 800C. The cylindrical cast ingot (size 22mm X 210mm) of Al7075-basalt fibre composite was obtained upon solidification. The basalt fibre reinforcement content for each composition is varied and the composites were produced in similar way while for pure Al (7075) alloy, no reinforcements were added during the process.

608 2.3. Characterization

R. Karthigeyan, G. Ranganath and S. Sankaranarayanan

The surfaces of cast ingots of the developed alloy and composite materials were subjected to visual observation test. The mass-densities of developed composite materials along with the parent alloy were measured using the standard immersion tests based on the Archimedean principle [14]. The volumetric porosity in the as-polished samples of developed materials was then calculated using the theoretical and experimental density values [14]. Thermal expansion coefficients were measured using the thermomechanical analysis instrument and the measured values were compared with that of the theoretical values calculated based on the rule of mixtures. Hardness tests were performed on polished samples of as-cast and composites using brinel hardness testing system. The test was carried out at three different locations and the average value was taken as the bulk hardness value. The room temperature tensile test was conducted using computerized uni-axial tensile testing machine at a strain rate of 0.51 mm/min. The as-cast Al (7075) alloy and their composite samples for tensile test were prepared using CNC lathe according to IS1608-2005, as shown in Fig. 1.The tests were conducted more than twice to get repeated values and average response value was considered.
Figure 1: Tensile test specimen.

The fractured surface of tensile test failed samples was investigated using the electron microscope to study the fracture mechanism. Microstructural characterization using the scanning electron microscope is conducted on the as-cast and the composite samples to study the grain characteristics, distribution of basalt fibre in the matrix and the fibre-matrix interface.

3. Results
3.1. Visual Observation The visual observation of as-cast alloy and composite materials were free from any macrostructural defects. 3.2. Density Measurements The experimental mass-densities of the composite materials and the Al (7075) alloy were measured using the immersion test and the results were tabulated in Table 3. The experimental results indicate that the near dense materials were successfully developed using the experimental procedure. The calculated value of volumetric porosity is observed to be relatively low (<1 vol. %). The maximum value of the porosity of (0.25%) is observed in case of maximum fibre addition.
Table 3:
S. No. 1 2

Results of density and porosity measurements

Material Al 7075 Al (7075) -2%SBF Theoretical Density (g/cc) 2.8100 2.8088 Experimental Density (g/cc) 2.8072 2.8038 Porosity (%) 0.1000 0.1800

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Studies of Aluminium (7075) Alloy Matrix Composite Reinforced with Short Basalt Fibre
Table 3:
3 4

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Results of density and porosity measurements continued

Al (7075) -4%SBF Al (7075) -6%SBF 2.8076 2.8064 2.8034 2.7994 0.1500 0.2500

3.3. CTE Measurements Thermo-mechanical analysis to measure CTE values was conducted on the as-polished samples and the results were presented in Fig. 2. The comparison of experimental CTE values with that of the theoretical values (based on rule of mixtures) indicates that the measured CTE values were relatively higher than the theoretical values. 3.4. Hardness The brinel hardness test results of cast Al (7075) base matrix and their composites containing basalt fibre (0-6 vol. %) were presented in the form of graph showing the relationship between the brinel hardness values and the basal fibre volume fraction (Fig. 3). From the hardness test results (Fig.2), it can be observed that the hardness of the composite is marginally greater than that of the base matrix Al (7075) alloy. The composites containing higher volume fraction of fibre exhibits higher hardness value of 97.1 MPa when compared to the base matrix, 92 MPa.
Figure 2: Results of CTE and Brinel hardness test conducted on the cast Al (7075) alloy and their composites.

3.5. Tensile Properties The results of room temperature tensile test conducted on the cast Al (7075) alloy and their composites are shown in Table 3. The results indicate an improvement in strength values in the case of composites with the increase in basalt fibre addition and the strength improvement occurred without any significant difference in the tensile ductility values. Fig. 3 shows the relationship between the Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) and Yield Strength (YS) values of SBF reinforced Al (7075) composites with respect to the varying volume fraction of basalt fibre (SBF).

610
Table 3:
S. No. 1 2 3 4

R. Karthigeyan, G. Ranganath and S. Sankaranarayanan

Results of room temperature tensile test of developed materials
Material Al (7075) alloy Al (7075) alloy-2% SBF Al (7075) alloy-4% SBF Al (7075) alloy-6% SBF Yield Strength (MPa) 1073 1122 1282 1805 Tensile Strength (MPa) 1274 1303 1625 2123 Ductility (%) 1.55 1.49 1.52 1.58

Figure 3: Results of room temperature test conducted on the cast Al (7075) alloy and their composites.

The fracture surface characterization results indicating the fracture mechanism of cast Al (7075) alloy and their composites under tensile loading were shown in Fig. 4(a-d). The fractured surface represents dimpled structure typical of tensile overload fracture in all the cases. The dimples are observed to be equi-axed and shallow which indicates low ductility of the material.
Figure 4 (a-d): Tensile fractographs showing the fracture surface of the tensile test failed samples of cast Al (7075) alloy and their composites.

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Studies of Aluminium (7075) Alloy Matrix Composite Reinforced with Short Basalt Fibre 3.6. Microstructure

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The microstructure of cast Al (7075) alloy and the composite sample containing 6 vol.% of basalt fibre representing the grain morphology and reinforcement / second phases distribution were shown in Fig. 5(a-d). The micrographs clearly reveal minimal micro porosities in the casting. From the microstructure (Fig. 5), it can be observed that, the distributions of reinforcements in the respective matrix are fairly uniform, which reveals the homogeneity of the cast composite. These micrographs also clearly reveal the increased filler contents in the composites. Also, the fine dispersion of second phase precipitates was evident both in the grains and along the grains (Fig. 5(c-d)). Grain morphology analysis shows that there is a grain size reduction observed in the case of composite samples when compared to the cast un-reinforced alloy.
Figure 5: Micrographs showing the grain morphology of (a) cast Al (7075) alloy, (b) basalt fibre reinforcedAl (7075) composite.

Figure 5(c):

Micrographs showing the grain morphology of basalt fibre reinforced- Al (7075) composite (higher magnification) and (d) Distribution of second phases in basalt fibre reinforced- Al (7075) composite.

4. Discussion
4.1. Synthesis Synthesis of Al (7075) alloy and their composite materials were successfully carried out by the stir casting process. The visual observation of as-cast samples indicates the absence of any macro-defects which clearly designates the suitability of processing parameters used in this study. The characterization results clearly indicate the feasibility of the casting process as a potential fabrication technique for Al-based materials.

612 4.2. Coefficient of Thermal Expansion

R. Karthigeyan, G. Ranganath and S. Sankaranarayanan

Based on the results of CTE (Table 1), with respect to Al (7075) alloy, the thermal expansion coefficients of composite samples are observed to be less. There is an improvement in the dimensional stability of the composites when compared to the monolithic alloy which attributes to the presence of relatively hard reinforcements. The theoretical CTE values were calculated based on rule of mixtures, c = (mEmVm + fEfVf)/(EmVm + EfVf) and then compared to the experimental values[15]. It is observed from Fig. 2 that the experimental values were relatively lesser than their corresponding theoretical values and this difference is attributed to the presence of minimal defects.The observed deviation of experimental values from the theoretical values also corresponds to various factors such as processing method, distribution of fibre in the matrix and the fibre-matrix interface. 4.3. Mechanical properties From the literature study, we understood that the addition of hard reinforcements will improve the strength properties [16]. However the strengthening effect depends on the properties of reinforcements such as (i) higher hardness value of the reinforcements, (ii) their strength properties (iii) obstruction to dislocation movements, (iv) effective load bearing capacity of the fibres and (v) the grain size reduction[17]. The effect of basalt fibre addition on the mechanical properties such as hardness and tensile properties will be discussed in detail as follows: a. Hardness The brinel hardness measurements shown in Fig. 2 indicate an increase in the mean hardness values of the synthesized composite materials when compared to cast Al (7075) alloy. This increase in hardness values corresponds to the presence of comparatively harder basalt fibre. b. Tensile Properties In the current investigation, the results from room temperature tensile tests indicate a significant improvement in the strength properties of composite samples when compared to the cast Al (7075) alloy. From the room temperature tensile test results shown in Table 3, an improvement in strength values in the case of composites with the increase in basalt fibre addition is observed and the results will be discussed further in terms of yield strength and tensile strength values. The dispersion of fibres in a soft ductile matrix resulted in the improvement in strength. In general, the strengthening attributes to (i) the increase in the dislocation density due to the thermal residual stresses, which arises from the mismatch in the coefficient of thermal expansion between matrix and the reinforcements which improves the yield strength, (ii) strength improvement due to grain refinement which will be further discussed in the successive section, (iii) higher dislocation density due to the increased stress concentration near the matrix-reinforcement interface, and (iv) higher hardness of basalt fibre which increases the load bearing capacity and hence results in improvement in UTS (ultimate strength) [1820]. The increase in strength may also be a result of closer packing of reinforcement within the soft aluminium matrix. The behavior of metal matrix composites depends mostly on the interface properties of the matrix and the reinforcements and the interfacial properties further depends on the wettability between the matrix and reinforcement constituents in the liquid processing route [21,22]. A good bonding between reinforcement and soft aluminium matrix favors an enhancement of the strength properties of the composite [23]. From the fractured surface characterization results, the presence of equiaxed and shallow dimples indicates the low ductility value of the material. And this has been substantiated by the experimentally observed small values of percent elongation [24-26]. Further, the effect of basalt fibre additions on the mechanical properties of developed materials has been discussed in the following sections with respect to the different strength calculations used in the available literature [15, 27-29]. The strength calculations used for comparison are as follows:

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Studies of Aluminium (7075) Alloy Matrix Composite Reinforced with Short Basalt Fibre (i)

613

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

Considering continuous fibre: In case of continuous fibre, the strength is given by c = mVm+ fVf, The results of calculation is shown in Fig. 6. On comparison, the calculated strength values were significantly higher than that of the experimental values. This attributes to the fact that the SBF present in the Al (7075) matrix is discontinuous. Considering the short fibres as particulates: By considering the short fibres to be the particulates, the strength values of the composites are calculated by considering the following strengthening methods, (a) Strengthening due to difference in CTE values, (b) strengthening due to difference in Modulus, (c) Orowan strengthening and (d) Strengthening due to grain size reduction following the Hall-petch equation [15]. As the grain size reduction is not prominently observed, the strengthening following Hall-Petchs equation is not much pronounced. The cumulative strengthening effects when calculated shows that the calculated strength values are very less when compared to the experimental results as seen in Fig. 6. This shows that even though the short fibres are used, the strengthening of Al (7075) through basalt fibre addition did not resemble as in that of particulate reinforcements. Effect of length of fibre, L>Lc: The critical length of the fibre is calculated to be 0.35mm which is less than the actual length (1.5 2mm) using the relation, Lc = (f*d)/2m. The theoretical strength values based on the length of fibre for condition, L>Lc is calculated using the relation, c=Lc*f*(Vf + (VmEm/Ef)), and it is shown in Fig. 6. The calculated strength values are found to be relatively deviated from the actual measured values when considered for larger volume fraction of fibre addition. This shows that there are certain other factors which also control the actual strength of composite. Considering the effect of random distribution: In this case, the distribution of fibre is considered in addition to the just the presence of fibre which includes a factor to demonstrate the effect of distribution is considered as given by c = nKfVf + m(1-Vf). The calculated values show a better logical similarity to the experimental values at higher volume fraction.
Figure 6: Comparison of calculated and experimental strength values.

614 4.4. Microstructure

R. Karthigeyan, G. Ranganath and S. Sankaranarayanan

From the micrographs (Fig.5), showing the grain morphology and reinforcements / second phases distribution, the distributions of reinforcements in the respective matrix is fairly uniform.The fine dispersion of second phase precipitates is evident both in the grains and along the grains (Fig. 6(c-d)). This indicates the independency of matrix grain growth from precipitation of second phases[17, 30, 31] and this also attributes to the presence and nearly uniform distribution of hard reinforcements [16, 32].

5. Conclusions
The conclusions of current experimental findings are listed below: 1. Al (7075) alloy and their composites have been successfully developed through the stir casting based liquid processing route with fairly uniform dispersion of basalt fibre. 2. The hardness of Al7075/basalt fibre composite increases as the addition of basalt fibre particles and the increment in hardness attributes to fibre particles dispersion in soft aluminium alloy matrix. 3. The addition of short basalt fibre significantly improves the yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength of Al7075, when compared with that of unreinforced matrix. The ultimate tensile strength of Al 7075/Basalt fibre composite when reinforced with 6 vol. % is increased by 65.51%. 4. The improvement in strength values under tensile loading occurs without affecting the tensile ductility. 5. Fractured surfaces under tensile loading of the cast Al (7075) alloy and their composites shows the presence of equi-axed and shallow dimples in all the samples. 6. The strength calculation involving the random distribution of basalt fibres best fits the experimental values.

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