Effects of PPA Reinforcement and Sintering Parameters on the Densification and Hardness Properties of Al/Mg/PPA Composites

The utilization of agricultural wastes in composite fabrication leads to attaining sustainability in manufacturing. This study investigates the use of plantain peel ash (PPA) as a reinforcement to fabricate Al/Mg/PPA composites using ball milling and spark plasma sintering (SPS) technology. The impact of PPA weight fraction and SPS parameters on Al/Mg/PPA composites' densification and hardness were analyzed. Microstructural characterization revealed that the PPA reinforcement was uniformly distributed in the aluminum matrix with no considerable microstructural defects. The relative densities of the composites were higher at elevated sintering temperatures, with composites displaying reduced porosity as the sintering temperature rose. The composites also exhibited the highest micro-hardness of 77 HV, improving 86.89% over the sintered aluminum matrix (base material). The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results revealed that the sintering temperature and reinforcement material significantly influenced the relative density (RD) of the sintered composites, while the reinforcement material significantly influenced the micro-hardness. Conclusively, the composite samples made using agricultural waste derivatives possess good mechanical properties and are suitable for various industrial applications.