Fabrication and Studying the Mechanical Properties of A356 Alloy Reinforced with Al sub(2)O sub(3)-10% Vol. ZrO sub(2) Nano-particles through Stir Casting

Al2O3-ZrO2 with a high level of hardness and toughness is known as ceramic steel. Due to its unique properties it can be used as a reinforcement in fabrication of metal matrix composites. In this study, nanoparticles of Al2O3-10% ZrO2 with an average size of 80 nm were used to fabricate Al matrix composites containing 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 wt.% of the reinforcement. The fabrication route was stir casting at 850[symbolomitted]C. There is no report about usage of this reinforcement in fabrication of composites in the literature. The microstructures of the as-cast composites were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Density measurement, hardness and tensile properties were carried out to identify the mechanical properties of the composites. The results revealed that with increasing the reinforcement content, density decreased while yield, ultimate tensile strength and compressive strength increased. Also, hardness increased by increasing the reinforcement content up to 1 wt.% Al2O3-10% ZrO2 but it decreased in the samples containing higher amounts of reinforcement.