A study on effect of primary and secondary reinforcements in hybrid metal matrix composite

In this work, the influence of variation in volume fractions of silicon carbide (SiC) particles and boron carbide (B4C) particles reinforced in 99.8% pure aluminum matrix mixed with 2% graphite (Gr) is studied. Three different proportions of hybrid aluminium metal matrix composite (HAMMC) are casted using the stir casting technique. The effect of percentile variation of reinforcing particulate materials and solid lubricant are evaluated by compression test, tensile test, micro-hardness, impact test and wear as per ASTM standards. The distribution of reinforced particulates in the matrix is studied with the help of optical micrographs, which show the homogenous distribution of ceramic particulates inside the aluminium matrix. With the higher addition of B4C particles, compressive strength, tensile strength, energy absorption characteristics and micro-hardness tends to increase due to the formation of Mg2Si phase.