International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 14, Number 8 (2019) pp.

1828-1834
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com

Influence of rice husk ash, Cu, Mg on the mechanical behaviour of

Aluminium Matrix hybrid composites

Ram Narayan Muni a*, Jujhar Singh b, Vineet Kumarc, Shubham Sharmad
Research scholar, Deptt of Mechanical Engg., IKG PTU Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
a

b
Deptt of Mechanical Engg., IKG Punjab Technical University, Main Campus, Kapurthala, Punjab, India.
c
Deptt. of Mechanical Engg. SUSCET Tangori, Mohali, Punjab, India.
d
CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, Regional Centre for Extension & Development,
Leather Complex, Kapurthala Road, Jalandhar, Punjab 144021, India.

*Corresponding Author

Abstract amenability to conventional processing technique and

The present study has been focussed on the feasibility and
viability of developing low cost - high performance Al matrix
hybrid composites with the use of Rice Husk Ash (RHA),
Copper (Cu) and Magnesium (Mg) as reinforcements. The
three-weight concentration % (wt.%) of Cu particulates added
with 6, 8 and 10wt.% RHA were utilized to prepare the
reinforcing phase with Al 6061 alloy as matrix using stir
casting method. The 1wt.% of Mg was added to improve the
wettability between the Al matrix and reinforcements. The
presence of Silicon Dioxide (Silica) is confirmed by X-ray
diffraction pattern and EDS spectrum. The effect of
reinforcement composition is studied by varying the RHA
concentration between 6wt% and 10wt%. It is reported that the
tensile strength and hardness of the hybrid composites
increased with increasing wt.% of the reinforcing phase (RHA
+ Cu) while the %Elongation and impact strength decreased
with increasing wt.% of RHA in the reinforcing phase. This is
because reinforcements are comparatively harder and less
ductile than matrix.
Keywords: Al 6061, Copper, Magnesium, Rice Husk Ash,
Hybrid Composites, Stir Casting, Mechanical Properties.
I. INTRODUCTION
Researchers in the area of materials science are continuously
developing materials having higher strength, hardness,
toughness and other tribological properties. Metal Matrix
Composites (MMCs) have emerged as a class of materials
suitable for structural, aerospace, automotive, electronic,
thermal, and wear applications owing to their advantages over
the conventional materials [1-2]. The incorporation of different
reinforcements into a matrix has led to the development of
hybrid composites. Hybrid composites are becoming better
substitutes for the conventional alloys because of
characteristics like high stiffness, high strength and low
density. Aluminium hybrid composites are a new generation of
metal matrix composites that have the potentials of satisfying
the recent demands of advanced engineering applications.
These demands are met due to improved mechanical properties,
possibility of reducing production cost of aluminium hybrid
composites. The performance of these materials is mostly
dependent on selecting the right combination of reinforcing
materials since some of the processing parameters are
associated with the reinforcing particulates. The different
reinforcing materials used in the development of Aluminium
matrix hybrid composites are synthetic ceramic particulates,
industrial wastes and agro waste derivatives. It has been also
observed that increasing number of reinforcements in MMCs
can improve some mechanical properties, depends upon the
nature of reinforcement or sometimes it reduces cost without
altering the properties significantly [3]. The different countries
have target to get composites by consideration the industrial
and agro wastes as reinforcement material and subsequently
reducing the cost and improvement in performance level. On
the other side, the reinforcement materials such as Silicon
Carbide and alumina have relatively high cost due to its
procurement from abroad. Fly ash, silica, and graphite are a few
examples of industrial/inorganic materials that have been used
as reinforcement in Aluminium hybrid composites. Rice hush
ash, bagasse ash, and coconut shell ash are few agro waste
products which have also been tested as potential reinforcing
material [4-8]. Though literatures on the potentials of agro‐
waste ashes are still limited compared to the synthetic
reinforcement, the available results show that Al based
composites reinforced with synthetic ceramics such as silicon
carbide and alumina have superior properties in comparison to
the agro waste ash reinforced grades. An approach which will
seek to harness the clearly superior strength levels of the
synthetic reinforcements and the lower cost and density
advantages of the agro wastes have not received much attention
in literature. This research work is motivated by the prospect of
developing high performance Al matrix hybrid composites
using silicon carbide and bamboo leaf ash as complementing
reinforcements. Bamboo trees are found in large quantities in
Nigeria and likewise so many other parts of the world; and the
leaves often liter the environments where they are found [9].
Pydi P. et al. [10] reported that the RHA is an important source
of silica and it can be added in Aluminium metal. The author
further observed that by successful addition of rice husk ash in
molten metal the mechanical properties of composites can be

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 International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 14, Number 8 (2019) pp. 1828-1834
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
improved. Alaneme et al. [11] investigated the fabrication
characteristics and mechanical behaviour of Al-Mg-Si alloy
matrix composites reinforced with alumina (Al2O3) and RHA.
This was aimed of developing high performance Al matrix
composites at reduced cost. The results shown that the less
dense Al-Mg-Si/RHA/Al2O3 hybrid composites have
estimated percent porosity levels as low as the single Al2O3
reinforced grade (<2.3% porosity). The hardness of the hybrid
composites decreased slightly with increase in RHA content
with a maximum reduction of less than 11% observed for the
Al-4wt% RHA-6wt% Al2O3 composition. Dora S. P. et al.
[12] investigated the mechanical properties of aluminium
hybrid composites reinforced with various volume fractions of
2, 4, 6, and 8 wt% RHA and SiC particulates in equal
proportions. Properties such as hardness, density, porosity and
mechanical behaviour of the unreinforced and
Al/x%RHA/x%SiC (x = 2, 4, 6, and 8 wt%) reinforced hybrid
composites were examined. It was observed that the hardness
and porosity of the hybrid composite increased with increasing
reinforcement volume fraction and density decreased with
increasing particle content. It was also observed that the
ultimate tensile strength and yield strength increase with an
increase in the percent weight fraction of the reinforcement
particles, whereas elongation decreases with the increase in
reinforcement. Alaneme et al. [13] investigated the
microstructural characteristics, mechanical and wear behaviour
of Aluminium matrix hybrid composites reinforced with
alumina, rice husk ash and graphite. Hardness decreased with
increase in the weight ratio of RHA and graphite in the
composites; and with RHA content greater than 50%, the effect
of graphite on the hardness became less significant. The tensile
strength for the composites containing 0.5 wt.% graphite and
up to 50% RHA was observed to be higher than that of the
composites without graphite. However, the wear resistance
decreased with increase in the graphite content from 0.5 to 1.5
wt.%. Gladston et al. [14] prepared composites using
aluminium alloy AA6061 reinforced with various amounts
(0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% mass fraction) of RHA particles and
characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron
microscopy. X-ray diffraction patterns of AA6061/RHA
aluminium matrix composites revealed the presence of RHA
particles without the formation of any other intermetallic
compounds and the SEM showed a homogeneous distribution
of RHA particles all over the Aluminium matrix. The
reinforcement of RHA particles enhanced the micro hardness
and ultimate tensile strength of the Aluminium matrix
composites. Siddabathula M. et al. [15] investigated the
mechanical properties of Aluminium-Copper composite
metallic materials prepared by dispersing copper particulates in
Aluminium matrix using stir-cast technique. Their behaviour
was compared with the alloy having similar composition. The
effect of particulate composition was studied by varying the
copper concentration between 5 and 15 wt%. It was observed
that the Hardness increased with increasing particulate contents
in both cast and homogenized conditions and Composites
shown a 13% drop in strength and 15% drop in strain compared
to the alloy. Vipin K. S. et al. [16] investigated the effect of
flyash particles on the wear of aluminium matrix composites
fabricated using stir casting method. It was observed that the
MMC with 6% weight of flyash content in aluminium matrix
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results in less wear (0.32 g) and 4% weight of flyash content
gives the low coefficient of friction (0.12) between the
tribopairs of cast iron surface and MMC surface. Siddhartha
Sarkar et al. [17] investigated the mechanical behaviour of Al-
6061 alloy based matrix composites, reinforced with Silicon
Carbide and RHA, an agro waste derivative. The ratios of RHA
and SiC in the composite were 1:4, 2:3 and 0:1 with a weight
percentage of 8%. Tensile test, Impact test, Hardness test, and
Machinability test were performed to obtain the mechanical
characteristics of the new found material and SEM and EDX
were utilised to get proper microstructure images as well as.
The results showed that the less dense Al/RHA/SiC hybrid
composites have estimated percent porosity levels as low as <
2.86% porosity. Vijaya Kumar Raju P. et al. [18] investigated
the tribological behaviour of an Al–5-wt.% Cu alloy, Al–10-
wt.% Cu alloy (hypoeutectic alloy), and an innovative
composite combination of an Al–5-wt% Cu alloy as the matrix
and a 5-wt% Cu powder as the reinforcement fabricated using
stir casting method. The wear and frictional properties of the
metal matrix composites was studied by performing dry sliding
wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester and Taguchi’s L9
Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data. Wear
rate of the composite was found lower when compared to both
the alloys.
Management of most agro wastes could be overwhelming and
the best approach remains to explore more recycling
techniques; and then applications where recycled wastes can be
productively utilized. This work is part of current efforts aimed
at considering the potentials of a wide range of agro waste ashes
for the development of low cost‐ high performance Aluminium
based hybrid composites. These low cost hybrid composites
could have potentials for use in stress bearing and wear
applications among others. RHA is silica enriched agricultural
waste. The objective of the present work is to develop low cost
and high performance Al 6061 matrix hybrid composites with
the use of RHA and Cu as reinforcements and mg as a coupling
agent. Microstructural characteristics of RHA and mechanical
properties of fabricated Al matrix hybrid composites were
investigated.
II. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
A. FABRICATION OF COMPOSITES
In the present study, rice husk was thoroughly washed with
water to remove the dust and other unnecessary substances and
dried at room temperature. The rice husk was further taken into
graphite crucible and heated up to 200° C for one hour to
remove moisture and organic matter. During this heating
operation, the colour of the rice husk changed from yellowish
to black due to presence of organic matter. After heating rice
husk at 200°C, the rice husk ash was again heated up to
600°C±30°C for 6 hours. In this operation, the rice husk was
completely burnt in the presence of oxygen. For obtaining
desired properties the ash was further heated in the electrical
furnace at 750°C for 12 hours. After finalized this operation
and cooling at room temperature the ash’s color was completely
changed from black to grey or slightly greyish-white. In this
work, Al 6061 was used as matrix material and 6, 8 and 10 wt.%
RHA, 3wt.% Copper (Cu) and 1wt.% Magnesium (Mg) were
 International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 14, Number 8 (2019) pp. 1828-1834
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com

used as reinforcements. Table 1 shows the sample wt.% about 630°C. The preheated RHA and copper particles were
composition used for investigation. charged into the semi-solid melt at this temperature (about
630°C) and stirred manually for 20 min. 1wt% of magnesium
The composites were prepared using two step stir casting
was added to improve the wettability between the matrix and
method. The RHA and copper particles are initially preheated
reinforcements. The semi-solid hybrid composite mixture was
separately at a temperature of 250 °C to remove moisture and
heated to temperature of about 900 °C and stirred using an
to improve wettability with molten Al alloy. The Al alloy was
automated mechanical stirrer at 300 for 10 min. Finally, the
charged in graphite crucible and was melted to a temperature
molten composite mixtures were poured into the mould cavity
of about 750 °C using electrical furnace. The liquid alloy was
for the casting purpose.
cooled in the furnace to a semi solid state at a temperature of

Table 1: Samples and their wt.% composition

Sample Designation Composition ( wt. %) of Hybrid Composites Materials
A0 100%Al6061
A1 93%Al6061+6%RHA+1%Mg
A2 90%Al6061+6%RHA+3%Cu+1%Mg
A3 88%Al6061+8%RHA+3%Cu+1%Mg
A4 86%Al6061+10%RHA+3%Cu+1%Mg

B. XRD and microstructural characterization of RHA data generated and average values were taken for further
analysis.
X-ray diffraction of prepared RHA powder was taken using an
X’PERT PRO X-ray diffractometer with Cu anode, K α
radiation and Ni filter. The XRD analysis was carried out at a
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
voltage 45kV and current intensity 40mA. Microstructural
characterization of the RHA powder was also conducted by A. XRD AND MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to analyse the OF RHA
microstructure. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) was
The X-ray diffraction patterns of RHA powder shown in Fig.1
done in conjunction with SEM to study the composition of the
confirmed the presence of Silica.
RHA powder in terms of the percentages of carbon(C), oxygen
(O), aluminium (Al), silicon (Si), potassium (K) etc.

C. MECHANICAL TESTING
Composite specimens were prepared on lathe machine as per
the standards and tensile, hardness and impact tests were
performed. Hardness test of the prepared samples was
conducted using Rockwell hardness testing machine on
standard test condition of B scale. Prior to this hardness testing,
the samples were machined and polished to obtain a smooth
plane surface. Five readings were taken for each sample to
obtain conformal results and average value was taken as a
measure of the hardness of the specimen. The tensile tests were
performed on the samples prepared from as-cast composites in
accordance with ASTM standard using universal testing Fig. 1: XRD pattern of RHA
machine. A total of 4 samples of each composite composition The representative of SEM micrograph and EDS spectrum at
at room temperature were tested for reliability of data generated three different slots of RHA particles are presented in fig 2. It
and average values were taken for further analysis. The tensile is evident from the SEM micrograph (Fig. 2a) and EDS
properties measured and evaluated from the test data were spectrum (Fig. 2b-2d) that the silica particulates are spread
ultimate tensile strength and % elongation. Impact strength across micrograph and distributed homogeneously. The EDS
(toughness) of the composites was determined by Charpy spectrum (Fig. 2b) show peaks of carbon(C), oxygen (O),
impact test technique using impact testing machine. The aluminium (Al), silicon (Si), potassium (K) etc. and the
composites samples for Charpy impact test arrangement were presence of oxygen confirms the presence of Al2O3, SiO2 and
prepared according to ASTM standards (10×10×55 mm3). The potassium oxide. It is evident from the EDS profile that the
tests were carried out for the 4 notched samples of each Silica (SiO2) is major constituent derived from RHA.
composite composition at room temperature for reliability of

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a EDS spot 1 b

EDS spot 2 c EDS spot 3 d

Fig. 2: (a) SEM micrograph (b) EDS spectrum at slot1 of RHA particles
(c) EDS spectrum at slot2 of RHA particles (d) EDS spectrum at slot3 of RHA particles

B. Mechanical Properties
The mechanical properties of the unreinforced, single and 70
hybrid composites are presented in Fig. 3, 4 & 5 using bar chart.
It is evident that the hardness and ultimate tensile strength of 60
the hybrid composites are observed to increases slightly with
the increase in wt. % of RHA content. It is also observed from 50
the sample series A1 and A2 that copper affects additionally on
40
hardness by 7.35% (Fig. 3) and ultimate tensile strength by 4.04
% (Fig. 4). Hardness and ultimate tensile strength of hybrid 30 57 58.1
composite increases significantly with increase in RHA content 50.4 54.1
20 43
from 0wt. % to 8wt. % but becomes less significant with further
increase from 8wt. % to 10wt. %. This indicates that the
10
addition of RHA and Cu in Al 6061 with certain wt.% leads the
improvements in hardness and tensile strength. From Fig. 5, it 0
can be noted that the impact strength of composite material A0 A1 A2 A3 A4
decreases with the addition of 6 wt. % of RHA but, it slightly
improves with the addition of 3 wt. %Cu and it further Fig. 3: Hardness (HRB) of unreinforced Al 6061 alloy and Al
decreases with the increase in wt. % of RHA. matrix hybrid composites with different wt. % of RHA

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120

100

80

60
91.5 95.2 97.1 98.4
40 85

20

0
A0 A1 A2 A3 A4

Fig. 4: Tensile Strength (MPa) of unreinforced Al 6061 alloy

and Al matrix hybrid composites with different wt. % of RHA

4
3.5
3
2.5
2
3.5
1.5 3 3
2.5 2.5
1
0.5
0
A0 A1 A2 A3 A4

Fig. 5: Impact Strength (Joules) of unreinforced Al 6061 alloy

and Al matrix hybrid composites with different wt. % of RHA

It is observed that % elongation of hybrid composite decreases
with increase in wt. % of reinforcements (Table 2). Higher the
reinforcements content, lower the %elongation, this is because
reinforcements are comparatively harder and brittle and less
ductile than Al alloy. It is further noted that hybrid composite
particularly grade containing 10 wt.% RHA, 3 wt.% Cu and
1wt.% Mg has lower % elongation compared to unreinforced
Al alloy.

Table 2: %Elongation of unreinforced Al 6061 alloy and Al matrix hybrid composites

Sample A0 A1 A2 A3 A4
Tensile strength(MPa) 85 91.5 95.2 97.1 98.4
Initial length (mm) 80 80 80 80 80
Final length (mm) 87.8 85.6 86.2 85.1 84.3
Net change in 7.8 5.6 6.2 5.1 4.3
length(mm)
Elongation % 9.75 7 7.75 6.37 5.37

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© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
IV. CONCLUSION
Based on the experimental results and analysis, the following
conclusions have been drawn which clearly indicated that there
is a possibility of a significant improvement in the mechanical
properties of Al matrix hybrid composites with the use of rice
husk ash (RHA), copper (Cu) and magnesium (Mg) as
reinforcements
 The X-ray diffraction patterns of rice husk ash powder
confirmed the presence of silicon dioxide (silica). It is
evident from the SEM micrograph and EDS profiles that
the Silica (SiO2) is major constituent derived from
RHA.
 Hardness of the hybrid composites increases with
increase in reinforcements content with the maximum
increment of 35.11% for the Al-10wt.%RHA-3wt.%Cu
-1wt.% Mg composition in comparison with increment
of 17.20% for Al-6wt.%RHA -1wt.% Mg.
 Ultimate tensile strength of the hybrid composites
increases with increase in reinforcements content with
the maximum increment of 15.76% for the Al-
10wt.%RHA-3wt.%Cu -1wt.% Mg composition in
comparison with increment of 7.64% for Al-6wt.%RHA
-1wt.% Mg.
 Impact strength and % Elongation of hybrid composite
decreases with increase in wt. % of RHA.
 RHA can serve as a complementing reinforcement for
the development of low cost and high performance Al
hybrid composites.
. Si alloy matrix hybrid composites”, Journal of
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