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4th International Conference on Materials Processing and Characterization

Optimization of Influencial parameters on Mechanical behavior of

AlMg1 SiCu Hybrid Metal Matrix Composites using
Taguchi integrated Fuzzy Approach
M.Vamsi Krishnaa,G.Bala Narasimha b, N.Rajeshc Anthony M .Xaviord
a

b,c

Department of Mechanical Engineering, M.I.T.S, Madanapalle, A.P, India

Department of Mechanical Engineering, S. V. College of Engineering, Tirupathi, A.P, India
4
SMBS,VIT,Vellore,Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Aluminium alloy materials found to the best alternative with its unique capacity of designing the
materials to give required properties. Aluminium alloy Metal Matrix Composites (AMMCs) are
gaining wide spread acceptance for automobile, industrial, and aerospace applications because of
their low density, high strength and good structural rigidity. In this paper, an attempt is made to
examine the effect of influential parameters such as type of reinforcement, size of the reinforcing
particle and weight percentage on mechanical properties. Stir casting technique has been
employed to prepare the composites. The response parameters were tensile strength, impact
strength and density. The design of experiments (DOE) approach using taguchi method was
employed to analyze the mechanical behaviour of hybrid composites. Signal-to-noise ratio and
Fuzzy approach were used to investigate the influence of parameters on the mechanical
behaviour.
2014 The Authors. Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the conference committee members of the 4th International conference on
Materials Processing and Characterization.
Keywords: Hybrid MMCs, DOE, Taguchi, Fuzzy logic

1. Introduction:
Conventional monolithic materials have limitations in achieving good combination of Strength, stiffness, toughness
and density. To overcome these shortcomings and to meet the ever Increasing demand of modern day technology,
2214-7853 2014 The Authors. Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the conference committee members of the 4th International
conference on Materials Processing and Characterization.

Author name / Materials Today: Proceedings00 (2014) 000000

2
composites are most promising materials of recent interest, one of these being Hybrid Metal Matrix Composites
(HMMCs) which possess high specific strength, toughness, impact strength and low sensitivity to temperature
changes. As a result, many of the current applications for HMMCs are in aerospace and automobile components,
where the service environments are demanding and dynamic loading is common [1].HMMCs typically are made of
discontinuous fiber or particle phase that is stiffer and stronger than the continuous matrix phase.
Aluminum based MMCS are still the subjects of intense studies, as their low density gives additional advantages in
several applications. Among the various useful aluminum alloys, aluminum alloy AlMg1 SiCu (Al 6061) is typically
characterized by properties such as fluidity, castability, corrosion resistance and high strength-weight ratio. This
alloy has been commonly used as a base metal for MMCs reinforced with a variety of fibers, particles and whiskers
[2].In recent years, considerable work has been done on Silicon carbide reinforced metal matrix composites, because
of its high strength, and also graphite reinforced metal matrix composites which exhibit low density, low wear rate
and excellent antiseizing properties. Mechanical properties of MMCs are affected by the size, shape and weight
fraction of the reinforcement, matrix material and reaction at the interface [3].
2. Literature review:
K.L.meena, et.al [4] investigated their work on Al/SiC Metal matrix composites with Al 6063 as matrix and SiC as
reinforcement of various sizes i.e,74, 53,44 by the melt stirring technique, and reported that the mechanical
properties were increased by decreasing the particle size and increasing the weight fraction of reinforcement. Khalid
Mahmood Ghauri et.al [5] investigated their work on mechanical properties of Al/SiC Metal matrix composites
with Al 6061 as matrix and SiC as reinforcement of 10 by varying the weight fraction of the composites, and
reported that the mechanical properties were increased by increasing the weight fraction of reinforcement.Prashant.S
et.al [6] investigated their work on mechanical properties of Al/Gr Metal matrix composites with Al 6061 as matrix
and Graphite as reinforcement by varying the weight fraction of the composites, and reported that the tensile
strength increases high upto 9% and increases very slightly more than 9%, because of excess of graphite. S.
Dhanalakshmi et.al investigated their work on processing parameters of AlSiC MMC produced by stir casting [7].
Vijaya Kumar and Venkataramaiah [8] have developed a hybrid approach by combining Taguchi, grey relational
analysis method and fuzzy logic to reap their advantage in drilling process.
Fuzzy logic: Fuzzy logic has great capability to capture human commonsense reasoning, decision-making and other
aspects of human cognition. It overcomes the limitations of classic logical systems, which impose inherent
restrictions on representation of imprecise concepts. Vagueness in the coefficients and constraints may be naturally
modeled by fuzzy logic. Modeling by fuzzy logic opens up a new way to optimize cutting conditions and also tool
selection importance of integration between fuzzy and ANN-based technique for effective process control in
manufacturing. Several applications of fuzzy set theory-based modeling of metal cutting processes are reported in
the literature.
Hashmi, El Baradie, and Ryan [9] applied fuzzy set theory logic for selection of cutting conditions in machining.
Lee, Yang, and Moon[10] used fuzzy set theory-based non-linear model for a turning process as a more effective
tool than conventional mathematical modeling techniques if there exists fuzziness in the process control variables
3. Experimentation:
3.1Materials and preparation: The matrix material for present study is AlMg1 SiCu alloy. The reinforcing material
selected was silicon carbide particle and graphite of size 3, 18 and 37 m.In this process, first the aluminium alloy
was placed in an electrical resistance furnace and heated to above its liquidus temperature i.e. 750 0 c, so that the
metal is totally melted. This melt is then cooled down to a temperature between the liquidus and solidus points and
kept in a semi solid state. Prior to particle addition, Magnesium powder was added to melt to maintain the
Wettability. At this stage, the preheated particles are added in three steps into the melt and mixed with the help of
stirrer for 10 mins, and the melt was poured into the gravity die at 7300 - 8000c.
3.2Testing of composites: The tensile behaviour of all the prepared samples were determined as per ASTM B-557 M
Standard Test Methods of Tension Testing Wrought and Cast Aluminum- and Magnesium-Alloy Products. The

Author name / Materials Today: Proceedings00 (2014) 000000

3
Impact strength of the composites were carried out on charpy impact tester as per ASTM E 23 02a Standard Test
Methods for Notched Bar Impact Testing of Metallic Materials .The densities of all the prepared specimens were
investigated experimentally by the Archimedeans principle.
Mechanical Properties tests have been performed on prepared composites by considering different parameter
combinations. Tensile strength, Impact strength and Density are selected as indices to evaluate the mechanical
properties of the MMC. Therefore these are considered as response characteristics in this study. Basically tensile
strength and impact strength should be maximized and Density should be minimized for any MMC for better
performance.
In the present work, three influential parameters are considered and each parameter is set at three levels. The
parameters and its levels are shown in Table - 1. For full factorial design, the experimental runs required are
(levels)(factors) equal to 33 = 27. To minimize the experimental cost, fractional factorial design is chosen, ie.3 3-1 = 9
runs. Therefore Taguchi experimental design L 9 is chosen for conducting experiments (Table - 2). Experiments are
performed according to this design and the values of Tensile strength, Impact strength and Density are recorded
(Table - 2) for each experimental run.
Parameters Design
Type of reinforcement
Size of particle (m)

4.
The
are
box
are

Weight percentage(%)
Exp.
Input
Run No.
Type of
reinforcement
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

SiC
SiC
SiC
Graphite
Graphite
Graphite
SiC/Graphite
SiC/Graphite
SiC/Graphite

Process Parameters
Level - 1
Level - 2
SiC
Graphite
3
18
5
10
Responses
Tensile
Size
Wt.
strength
()
(%)
(Mpa)
3
5
161.24
18
10
155.83
37
15
150.95
3
10
144.61
18
15
143.75
37
5
144.26
3
15
192.45
18
5
184.32
37
10
177.23

Level 3
SiC/Graphite
37
15
Impact
strength
(Joules)
26
27
30
21
19
16
43
26
29

Density
(gm/cc)
2.77
2.75
2.74
2.58
2.64
2.66
2.59
2.62
2.61

Table 1. Influential parameters and

their levels

Optimization of
machining parameters:
responses Tensile strength,
Impact strength and Density
analyzed using fuzzy tool
of Matlab software and
overall fuzzy grade values
determined. The optimum
levels
of
influential
parameters are determined

based on overall fuzzy grade as follows:

Implementation of Fuzzy Logic: Fuzzy logic involves a fuzzy interference engine and a fuzzification
-defuzzification module. Fuzzification expresses the input variables in the form of fuzzy membership values based
on various membership functions. Governing rules in linguistic form, for example if cutting force is high and
machining time is high, then tool wear is high, are formulated on the basis of experimental observations. Based on
each rule, inference can be drawn on output grade and membership value. Inferences obtained from various rules are
combined to arrive at a final decision. The membership values thus obtained are defuzzified using various techniques
to obtain true value.
Table 2 Experimental design and Data

4.1 Determination of overall fuzzy grade:

A fuzzy logic unit comprises a fuzzifier, membership functions, a fuzzy rule base, an inference engine and a
defuzzifier. In the fuzzy logic analysis, the fuzzifier uses membership functions to fuzzify the grey relational
coefficient first. Next, the inference engine performs a fuzzy reasoning on fuzzy rules to generate a fuzzy value.
Finally, the defuzzifier converts the fuzzy value into a fuzzy grade. The structure built for this study is a three inputone-output fuzzy logic unit as shown in Fig. 1. The function of the fuzzifier is to convert outside crisp sets of input
data into proper linguistic fuzzy sets of information.

M.Vamsi krishna/ Materials Today: Proceedings00 (2014) 000000

The input variables of the fuzzy logic system in this study are Tensile strength, Impact strength and Density. They
are converted into linguistic fuzzy subsets using membership functions of a triangle form, as shown in Fig. 2, and
are uniformly assigned into three fuzzy subsetsLow (L), Medium (M), and High (H) grade. The fuzzy rule base
consists of a group of if-then control rules to express the inference relationship between input and output. A typical
linguistic fuzzy rule called Mamdani is described as
Rule 1: if x1 is A1, x2 is B1 then y is E1elseRule 2: if x1 is A2 , x2 is B2 ,then y is E2
else

.Rule n: if x1 is An, x2 is Bn, then y is Enelse

In above Ai, Bi are fuzzy subsets defined by the Corresponding membership functions i.e., /4Ai, /4Bi. The
output variable is the Fuzzy grade yo, and also converted into linguistic fuzzy subsets using membership functions
of a triangle form, as shown in Fig. 3.
4

Fig. 1 Three input and one out output fuzzy logic unit

Fig. 2 Input parameters for fuzzy

Fig. 3 Membership functions for output values

Unlike the input variables, the output variable is assigned into relatively nine subsets i.e., very verylow (VVL), very
low (VL), low (L) Medium low (ML) medium low, medium (M), medium high (MH) high (H), very high (VH),
very very high (VVH) Then, considering the conformity of three performance characteristics for input variables, 9
fuzzy rules are defined. The fuzzy inference engine is the kernel of a fuzzy system. It can solve a problem by
simulating the thinking and decision pattern of human being using approximate or fuzzy reasoning. In this paper, the
max-min compositional operation of Mamdani is adopted to perform calculation of fuzzy reasoning.
4.2 Optimal levels of Machining Parameters
After determining the overall fuzzy grade values as listed inTable-4, the effect of each process parameter is
separated based on overall Fuzzy grade at different levels. Basically, large Fuzzy grade means it is close to the
product quality, thus, a higher value of the Fuzzy grade is desirable. From the table 4, it shows that the experiment
run 7 has highest fuzzy grade i.e, 0.9153 and it indicates the optimal process parameters with the best level are type
of reinforcement is SiC/Gr (hybid) at level - 3, size 3 at level-1 and weight percentage 15% at level- 3. The optimal
levels for the controllable parameters obtained from this methodology are verified by the conformation test shown in
Table-5.
Table 4: Overall fuzzy grade
Exp. Run
1

Author name / Materials Today: Proceedings00 (2014) 000000

Overall
fuzzy grade

0.271
4

0.2908

0.301

0.4088

0.283
2

0.2067

0.915
3

0.6339

5
0.6642

Table 5. Conformation test results

Type of
reinforcement

Size
()

Wt
.
(%
)

Tensile
strength
(Mpa)

Impact
strength
(Joules)

15

192.39

44

Density
(gm/cc)
2.59

5. Conclusions:
The experiments have been conducted on various levels and parameters and obtained data has been analyzed
using Fuzzy logic. The influence of type of reinforcement, size and weight percentage of theparticle on mechanical
behaviour of composites was studied. Optimum influencing parameter combination has been found at the size of 3,
combined SiC/Graphite of 15 % using fuzzy logic technique which yields good results in high strength and low
density.
.
6.

Reference
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