Effect of particle size and volume fraction on the strengthening mechanisms of boron carbide reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites

In the present work, 6061 Al–B4C metal matrix composites with different volume fractions (5, 10, 15 and 20 vol.%) have been fabricated by a low cost modified stir casting technique. The effect of varying particulate content on the microstructure of Al–B4C composites has been qualitatively characterized using a scanning electron microscope and an optical microscope. Tensile tests were performed to study the influence of varying reinforcement content on the strengthening behavior of fabricated composites. The composite’s yield strength increases significantly as the B4C content was increased from 0 to 20 vol.%. The enhancement in strength was elucidated on the basis of strengthening mechanisms characterized by load transfer, thermal dislocation, grain size, and strain gradient strengthening. The strengthening mechanisms were quantitatively analyzed and evaluated as a function of particle size and volume fraction. A critical particle size was found to be about 45 µm, below which the strengthening contributions from different mechanism increases remarkably. At a higher volume fraction of B4C, the effect of thermal dislocation strengthening becomes more dominant as compared to other mechanisms. Furthermore, the analytical models proposed by Ramakrishnan and Chen for predicting the yield strength of particulate reinforced metal matrix composites have been extended to take into account the contribution of strain gradient effect in the strengthening mechanism of composites.