Development and Characterization of Stir Cast Aluminum-Brick

Powder Metal Matrix Composites

Shubham Kumar Singh1#, Aniruddha Jaiswal2, Manvandra Kumar Singh3, Ashwini

Kumar4, Sunil Mohan5, R.K. Gautam6, Sudhanshu Shekhar Singh4, Gopal Ji1*, Rajiv
Prakash2
1
Mechatronics, Centre for advanced studies, Dr APJAKTU Lucknow,
U.P. -226031, India.
2
School of Materials Science and Technology, IIT BHU Varanasi,
Varanasi-221005, U.P., India.
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amity School of Engineering and Technology, 
Amity University Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior – 474005, India.
4
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur,
Kanpur -208016, U.P., India.
5
Department of Metallurgical Engineering, IIT BHU Varanasi,
Varanasi-221005, U.P., India.
6
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT BHU Varanasi,
Varanasi-221005, U.P., India.
#
Presenting author email:ssingh212223@gmail.com
*Corresponding author email: gopalji@cas.res.in, +919628890414

Abstract

Al 6061 possesses good mechanical properties, strength, hardness, weldability and corrosion
resistance. However, these properties of Al6061 can be sufficiently raised by making
composites. The metal matrix composites (MMCs) are well known for their high strength, high
hardness and corrosion resistance. However, these properties depend on reinforcement
materials added in the metal matrix. In present work, aluminum (6061) based MMCs have
been developed by stir casting. In these MMCs, brick powder is used as reinforcement material.
Four MMCs have been developed by varying concentration and size of brick powders: MMC1,
2 hr ball milled and 1% by weight; MMC2, 2 hr ball milled and 7% by weight; MMC3, 4 hr
ball milled and 1% by weight; and MMC4, 4 hr ball milled and 7% by weight. The successful
formations of MMCs are examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM),
energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The
results indicated that MMCs have been successfully developed.

Key Words: Al 6061; Brick Powder; MMC; Stir casting; XRD; FESEM.

1. Introduction

Aluminium is a light weight material and owner of good mechanical properties.

The mechanical and other useful properties of Al can be improved by alloying with
other materials. Al 6061 is an alloy of Mg, Si and Al, and possesses better functional
properties than pure aluminum [1]. In some cases, Al 6061 is not enough to deal with
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the requirements alone and further improvement in the properties is needed. This can
be achieved by developing Al based MMCs (AMMC). Due to excellent functional
properties, AMMC are frequently used in the automotive industries to develop
various automobile parts like piston, crank, rings and cylinders [2]. Due to high
strength to weight ratio, high hardness, low density, better wear and corrosion
resistance, AMMC are also used in the aircraft industries in making of aircraft frame
and other parts [3, 4]. Thus, it is evident that AMMC are well known for its excellent
functional properties. However, these properties of AMMCs greatly depend on the
reinforcement material. Several reinforcement materials have been tried to develop
MMCs with desirable properties. M. Kok have investigated the tensile strength and
hardness of Aluminum 2024 reinforced with Al 2O3 particles [5]. Wear and corrosion
behavior of Al-Si matrix reinforced with Alumina is studied by El Aziz et al [6].
Seleman et al have studied the hot extruded Aluminum 6016 alloy reinforced with
graphite particles for mechanical properties and microstructures [7]. Senapati et al
have investigated the Al-Si based MMC reinforced with industrial waste (fly ash)
material and tested for tribological properties [8]. Kumar et al have studied for wear
properties of Aluminum based MMCs reinforced with silicon carbide and granite
powder [9]. Study of Mechanical and wear properties of Al LM6 MMCs reinforced
with Nano SiC, Fly ash and Red mud is done by Ahemad et al [10]. Thus, it is evident
that selection of reinforcement material is an important step to achieve the desirable
properties according to the working environment.

The aim of present work is to develop Al based MMCs by stir casting using brick
powder as reinforcement material. Stir casting technique is selected because it is easy,
fast, economic and widely used technique for development of MMCs [11]. Several
researchers have developed MMCs using stir casting method. Tamilanban et al [12]
have studied the Al(6061) based MMCs developed by stir casting and reinforced with
SiC, Mg, Cu according to different weight percentage. Bhowmik et al [13] have
investigated the tribological properties of Al7075 MMCs developed by stir casting
and reinforced with Titanium diboride according to different weight percentages.
Kumar et al [14] have investigated the Al7075 MMCs developed by friction stir
processing and reinforced with SiC in micro and nano grain forms. Arunachalam et al
[15] discussed about the stir casting techniques in detail in his review paper. In
present work, brick powder has been chosen as reinforcement material because it is a
hot hard ceramic material, can increase hardness of AMMC to sufficient high level
and never used as reinforcement material till date as per the best of our knowledge.
Four MMCs namely MMC1, MMC2, MMC3 and MMC4 have been developed by
varying concentration and size of brick powder. The sizes of powder are varied using
ball milling for different times (2 hr and 4hr). The concentration of brick powder is
kept as 1% and 7% (by weight of pure aluminum) to study the concentration effect on
the functional properties. The developed MMCs have been examined by SEM, EDAX
and XRD, which indicate that MMCs have been successfully formed. In the next part
of this work, tribological properties and corrosion resistance of the developed MMCs
will be investigated.

2. Experiment Methods and Materials

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2.1 Metal Matrix Material

In this work, Al 6061 is used as a matrix material. Al 6061 is procured from the
metal market of Lucknow, India. The purchased material is also checked by FESEM
and details are shown in the results section of the manuscript. .

2.2 Ball milling of brick material

The ball milling of the brick powder is performed by Fritch P6 machine. A 30 gm

of the brick powder was individually ball milled for 2 hr and 4 hr at 300 rpm. The
camera images of brick powder and ball milled powders are shown in Fig 1. The
FESEM images of the powders are shown in the results section of the manuscript.

Fig 1. Showing camera images of brick powder (a) without ball milled, (b) two hours ball
milled and (c) four hours ball milled.

2.3 Development of MMCs

Fig 2. Stir casting setup (a) Muffle furnace without stirrer and (b) Muffle furnace with
stirrer.

First, Al 6061 (300 gm) was put in a graphite crucible in a muffle furnace at 750˚C
for melting. A graphite rod was used for stirring of molten metal at 220 rpm for 10
minutes. During stirring, reinforcement materials were added according to the
concentration (1% and 7%) and size (2 hr and 4 hr ball milled). Afterwards, the
molten metal with reinforcement was poured in a rectangular mould of 12×3×2 cm 3
and left for solidification. The whole process was performed according to singh et. al.
[16].The set up used for stir casting and cast product is shown in Fig 2 and Fig 3. For
reference, Al 6061 is recast by stir casting.
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Fig 3. Showing cast (a) Al 6061 (b) MMC1, (c) MMC2, (d) MMC3 and (e) MMC4.

2.4 Surface morphology analysis

The cast Al 6061 and MMCs were cut into suitable sizes from the middle by power
hacksaw. These samples were abraded by emery paper, cleaned with ethanol and then
put in a vacuum desiccator for one day. Afterwards, the surface of the developed
MMCs and Al were examined by Carl Zeiss Gemini FESEM and EDAX.

2.5 XRD Analysis of MMCs

The XRD patterns for the cast MMCs were obtained by Rigaku Miniflex 600. The
powders of Al6061 and MMCs were collected during their cutting for making
samples for SEM analysis. These powders were examined and XRD patterns were
recorded.  

3. Result and Discussion

3.1 Analysis of Ball milled brick powder

Fig. 4. FESEM images of brick powder after 0 hr, 2hr and 4 hr ball milling at 2K (a, c and e)
and 10 K (b, d and f) magnifications.

The ball milling of the brick powder was done to obtain different size of the
 5

powders. The powder was ball milled for 2 hr and 4 hr. It was expected that 4 hr ball
milling could produce finer particles than 2 hr ball milling. The FESEM images of
brick powder are shown in Fig 4. It was evident through images at both
magnifications that size of the powder was reduced after ball milling. The 4 hr ball
milled powder was looking finer than 2 hr ball milled powder. The average sizes of 0
hr, 2 hr and 4 hr ball milled powders were approximately 5 µm, 1.5 µm and 408 nm.
Thus, it was found based on FESEM analysis that 2 hr and 4 hr ball milled powder
could be used to study the effect of size on reinforcement quality.

3.2 FESEM and EDX analysis of cast MMCs

The cast MMCs were analyzed through FESEM to check successful formation of
the composites. Fig. 5 shows their images at 500 magnifications. It was evident that
Al6061 surface changed due to addition of brick powders in MMCs; however, this
change was more prominently observed for MMC2 and MMC4 (more amount of
powders). These changes indicated that MMCs were formed.

Fig. 5. FESEM images (a) Al 6061, (b) MMC1, (c) MMC2, (d) MMC3 and (e) MMC 4 at
500 magnification.

The changes due to addition of brick powders of Al 6061 could be more clearly
observed through Fig 6. A drastic change in Al 6061 surface was observed. Also,
surface change due to size decrease (micro to nano) and concentration increase (1% to
7%) was evidently noticed through analysis of Fig 6 b-e. These changes in surface
were self indicators of MMC formation.
To do further confirmation, a comparison of elemental composition of MMCs is
done based on EDAX and presented in Table 1. According to the analysis, brick
powders were having 3 major elements: Be, O and Si. On the other side, Al 6061 was
having Al, O and Si. Table 1 indicated that Be was not present in Al 6061, while Be
6

was present in all the composites along with Al, C, O and Si. This confirmed the Al-
Brick powder MMCs. It was also noticed that the wt% of elements (especially Be)
were changed due to size and concentration of brick powders, which indicated
compositional differences among developed MMCs. These differences could affect
functional properties.

Fig. 6. FESEM images (a) Al 6061, (b) MMC1, (c) MMC2, (d) MMC3 and (e) MMC 4at
10000 magnifications.

Table 1: elemental analysis (Wt%) of Al 6061 and developed MMCs by EDAX.

Composi Composi Composi Composi

Al Brick
Elements te-2Hr te-2Hr and te-4Hr and te-4Hr and
6061 Powder
and 1% 7% 1% 7%
Be - 39.72 2.30 43.08 3.05 48.5
C - 2.69 33.17 13.68 4.14 11.16
O 7.10 33.95 16.41 1.42 5.26 1.50
Al 92.55 6.04 44.33 41.68 87.49 38.55
Si 2.05 11.55 0.08 0.14 0.06 0.29
3.3 XRD analysis

Fig 7 and Fig 8 shows XRD patterns of MMC1, MMC2, MMC3 and MMC4 for
observing size and concentration effects. There were five peaks in XRD patterns of Al
6061and MMCs. The positions of the peaks (2θ) in XRD patterns of Al 6061 were
38.5˚, 44.8˚, 65.1˚, 78.2˚38.5˚ and 82.3˚. The intensity of the peaks were found
decreased coming from left to right in XRD patterns. The similar XRD patterns of Al
6061 were reported elsewhere [17], which confirmed the matrix material was Al
6061.
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Fig. 7. XRD patterns of (a, b) Al 6061, MMC1, MMC2 and (c, d) MMC3 and MMC4 for
observing concentration effect.

Fig. 8. XRD patterns of (a, b) Al 6061, MMC1, MMC2 and (c, d) MMC3 and MMC4 for
observing size effect.
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The MMCs were presented in two figures to analyze size and concentration effect
on the XRD peaks as well as to confirm formation of composites. Fig 7 shows the
XRD peaks for all MMCs. The peaks were same in numbers (5) and same in
positions. However, the most intense peaks (characteristic peaks) showed slight
differences in peak intensity and peak positions in magnified view (fig 7 b, d). Due to
increase in concentrations, similar shifts in peak positions as well as increase in peak
intensities were observed for both 2Hr and 4Hr ball milled powder reinforced
composites. These changes represented that composites were formed. Furthermore,
the size effects (different time of ball milling) on XRD peaks were analyzed and it
was observed that changes were occurring (Fig 8). In magnified view of the XRD
peaks (fig 8 b, d), it was noticed that increase in intensity and shifting in peaks
positions were occurring in accordance with the size. However, these changes were
more prominent in the composites having 7% brick powders (both 2 Hr and 4 Hr ball
milled) as reinforcements. This observation indicated that composites were
successfully formed.

As an overall conclusion of XRD analysis it was stated that formation of

composites was confirmed through the changes in peak intensity and peak positions.
The changes were shown here only for the most intense peak (characteristic peaks);
however, the change in other peaks were also observed (not shown).

4. Conclusions

The Al 6061- brick powder MMCs were developed by stir casting in this work.
The brick powder was never used as reinforcement material for Al 6061 based
MMCs. The brick powders were ball milled for 2 Hr and 4Hr for obtaining different
size of the powders and added in MMCs in different weight concentrations (1% and
7%). Thus total 4 composites were developed: MMC1, MMC2, MMC3 and MMC 4.
The FESEM analysis of ball milled powders revealed that they were different in sizes
(2Hr ball milled > 4Hr ball milled). The FESEM images of MMCs surfaces were
recorded at 500 and 10000 magnifications, which suggested that composites were
formed. Despite EDAX analysis were performed on MMCs and it was noticed that Be
(major element in brick powder) was present in all the composites, while it was absent
in Al 6061. Thus EDAX analysis confirmed that the composites were formed.
Further, XRD analysis were performed on MMCs. The XRD analysis evident showed
size and concentration effects on XRD peaks, which confirmed that the composites
were formed. Thus, it was stated based on analysis in this work that Al 6061-brick
powder composites were successfully developed by stir casting.

Acknowledgements
Shubham kumar singh wants to acknowledge Mr. Ankit Kumar Singh of IIT BHU
Varanasi for his help during casting of MMCs and Dr Piyush Jaiswal (CAS Lucknow)
for SEM analysis.

Conflict of Interests
Authors declare no conflict of interest.
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