Property evaluation of graphene - reinforced Al-Cu-Li (2195) alloy for lightweight structural applications

Aluminium 2XXX series are prominently used in aerospace structural applications, especially Al-Cu-Li Alloys, which are used in the space exploration sector. This work aims to identify a substitute material and an effective manufacturing technique for producing suitable metal matrix composites intended for super lightweight tank structural applications. This work describes the property evaluation of 0.5 wt% of graphene-reinforced AA2195 composite processed through vacuum induction melting (VIM) technique under a dynamic inert atmosphere. Thus, the fabricated final cast plate was homogenized and hot rolled following the T8 heat treatment process. Incorporating 0.5 wt% of 2D – Graphene Sheets resulted in a 33 % enhancement in UTS and a 40 % increase in HRB relative to the AA2195 parent alloy. EBSD and Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD) analysis confirmed that the Graphene Sheets are homogeneously dispersed throughout the composite plate.