Dr.

MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Characterisation of aluminium metal matrix

composite using Nano indentation

Guided by
Mr.A.R.Suresh,  M.E.,
Assistant Professor (SG)
Members
R.Chipichakkaravarthy(12BME014)
R.Mukesh Raja(12BME057)
R.Goutham(13BME303)
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

AIM
To study the mechanical properties of
Aluminium based composites with silicon
carbide and fly ash using Nano Indentation and
cryogenic treatment .
OBJECTIVE
To find optimum quantity of fly ash and silicon
carbide for tensile load application.
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Aluminium alloy
• Pure aluminium cannot be used as a structural
component, due to its low mechanical strength.
• It is, therefore, usually combined with various
alloying elements to produce grades which are
suitable for a large number of applications.
• Due to their light weight and high thermal
conductivity, Al alloys have also been considered
for tribological applications
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Silicon carbide
• It is the only chemical compound of carbon and silicon.
• It is an excellent abrasive.
• It is having low density, high strength, high elastic
modulus, high thermal conductivity, excellent thermal
shock resistance.
• Elevated temperature performance and the fact that
they reported only a 35% loss of strength at 1350ºC are
their best qualities. And its melting point is 2700 ºC.
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

FLY ASH
• Fly ash is one of the most inexpensive and low
density reinforcement available in large quantities as
solid waste by-product during combustion of coal in
thermal power plants.
• They constitute mostly of silicon dioxide (SiO2),
aluminium oxide/alumina (Al2O3) and iron oxide
(Fe2O3).
• It is having high electrical resistivity, low thermal
conductivity
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Physical and Mechanical Properties of Aluminium LM30

PROPERTY VALUES
0.2% yield load(KN) 2.13
Tensile stress (N/mm2) 108
Elongation(%) 1.20
Brinnel Hardness 66.33
Ulitmate Tensile Strength (MPA) 143.14
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (per oc at 20-100oc) 0.000018

Thermal Conductivity (Cal/cm2/cm/0c at 25oc) 0.32

Electrical Conductivity (%Copper standard at 20oc) 20

Density(g/cm3) 2.7
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Aluminium LM30
• LM30 is a recently introduced alloy which was
designed specifically for a die cast Aluminium
automobile engine
• Potentially its application extends to a wide
range of castings where high wear resistance,
associated with lightness, is required and
especially where advantage can be taken of the
economies of the die casting process
Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Stir casting parameters

Casting temperature : 910oC
Preheat temperature    
(Reinforcement) : 860oC
Melting time : 30 minutes
Preheat time : 30 minutes
Heating power : 90 W
Heating voltage : 220 V
Heating current : 12 A
Stirrer speed : 200 to 400 RPM
Crucible size(Melting) : 120mm diameter &130mm length

Crucible (Preheat) : 50 mm diameter & 50mm length

Ambient temperature : 33oC

Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Composition by wt %
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Manufactured composite specimens

 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Nanoindentation
• It is a powerful technique used for assessing mechanical properties
• It is used for obtaining material parameters like elastic modulus,
hardness from experimental readings of indenter load and depth of
penetration.
• Forces involved are usually in the mili or micronewton range and the
depth in the order of nanometers.
• Very small material volumes having the order of several tens of
nanometers can be
• accessed with the tip of the nanoindenter and material properties can be
evaluated for such a small piece of the material
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Why Nanoindentation ?
In order to limit defects such as porosity ,blowholes,
wettability occurring in stir casting process we have
opted to manufacture smaller specimens to facilitate
control of the parameters under acceptable levels.
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Nanoindentation machine
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Nano indentation testing

sample B sample E
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

sample F sample G
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

sample M sample K
Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Elastic modulus Hardness Contact depth Contact Max. Force Max. Contact Area
(GPa) (GPa) (nm) Stiffness (µN) Depth (nm) (nm^2)
(µN/nm)
Composition

 Sample ID  (by weight)

%

SiC Flyash

B 10 15 175.57 3.96 78.1 76.6 592.4 84.5 1.50E+05

E 10 5 241.49 18.82 36 48.86 598.8 45.5 3.18E+04

F 5 15 58.84 0.74 178.6 58.7 579.1 186.9 7.81E+05

G 5 10 58.45 0.902 162.1 52.9 580.9 171.5 6.44E+05

M 15 10 172.61 5.17 68.4 66 593.7 75.7 1.15E+05

K 10 10 137.52 4.56 72.8 55.9 592.3 81.5 1.30E+05

 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 Elastic modulus (GPa)  Hardness (GPa)

 Sample ID  Sample ID
18.82
241.49

175.57 172.61
137.52

5.17 4.56
58.84 58.45 3.96
0.74 0.9

B E F G M K B E F G M K
 Max. Depth (nm)
Contact depth (nm)
 Sample ID
 Sample ID 186.9
171.5
178.6
162.1

84.5 75.7 81.5

78.1 68.4 72.8
45.5
36

B E F G M K B E F G M K
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CRYOGENIC TESTING
• Cryogenic treatment is a low temperature treatment process widely
used to enhance the material properties without sacrificing other
properties at the same time.
• Cryogenic not only plays a significant role in enhancing the
mechanical properties of Al alloys but also increases the resistance to
stress corrosion which is of prime concern in various
engineering applications
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

RESULTS OF MICRO HARDNESS TEST (Hv 300)

(Average of 3 reading on the surface of the specimens)

Sample ID Composition Before After Percentage

(by weight %) cryogenic cryogenic value of
treatment treatment hardness
SiC Fly ash

B 10 15 75 79 5.3
E 10 5 83 86 3.6
F 5 15 87 84 -3.4
G 5 10 84 74 -11.9
M 15 10 85 80 -5.9
K 10 10 83 88 6.0
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION

90

85

80

BEFORE CRYOGENIC
75 AFTER CRYOGENIC

70

65
B E F G M K
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MICROSTRUCTURE ANALYSIS
SAMPLE B
Resolution 500X

Before cryogenic treatment After cryogenic treatment

 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SAMPLE E
Resolution 500X

Before cryogenic treatment After cryogenic treatment

 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SAMPLE F
Resolution 500X

Before cryogenic treatment After cryogenic treatment

 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SAMPLE G
Resolution 500X

Before cryogenic treatment After cryogenic treatment

 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SAMPLE M
Resolution 500X

Before cryogenic treatment After cryogenic treatment

 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SAMPLE K
Resolution 200X

Before cryogenic treatment After cryogenic treatment

 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CONCLUSION
NANOINDNETATION
• From the results of nano indentation, it was observed that elastic modulus of the specimen
improved with increase in the amount of SiC in the composition.
• In the specimen which was having 10% SiC and 5% of fly ash ,the highest value of elastic
modulus of 241.49GPa was obtained. The lowest value of elastic modulus was observed in
the specimen having 5%SiC and 10% of fly ash of 58.45GPa.
• In the specimen which was having 10% SiC and 5% of fly ash had the highest hardness
value of 18.82GPa.The lowest value of hardness was observed in the specimen having 5%
SiC and 15% fly ash of 0.74GPa.
• In the specimen having 10%SiC and 15% fly ash has the highest value of 76.6µN/nm. The
specimen which comprised of 10% SiC and 5% flyash had the lowest value of contact
stiffness of 48.86µN/nm.
 Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CRYOGENIC TREATMENT
• The improvement in micro hardness was observed only with AMMC having
10%SiC &10%flyash and in the AMMC having 10%SiC & 5%flyash
• Interestingly micro hardness values of the other compositions decreased after
DCT
• The highest improvement in the micro hardness of 83Hv to 88Hv was observed in
the composition having 10%SiC and 10%Flyash.
• The steepest drop in micro hardness value after DCT was observed in the
specimen having 5%SiC and10% fly ash.
Hence it is recommended to use aluminium alloy LM30 with reinforcements of
10%SiC and 10%flyash to manufacture I.C engine cylinder blocks due to
significant changes in the mechanical properties.
Dr.MAHALINGAM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
POLLACHI -642003
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Thank you