Study of Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Particle Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composite

Composite materials are engineered or naturally occurring materials made of two or more constituents with significantly different properties. So, the focus of this research is one amongst, i.e. fabricating and characterization of particle reinforced aluminum matrix composite. Soda lime glass as reinforcement was cleaned and crushed into different particle sizes. Stir casting technique and Taguchi approach of L9 orthogonal array was used to fabricate the composite material. The effect of the input parameters on the output responses was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) on Minitab. Particle size of (70–75 μm, 100–106 μm, and 145–150 μm), the weight ratio of (3%, 9%, and 15%), stirring time of (5, 10, and 15 min) and stirring speed of (210, 265, and 320 rpm) were the control factors used. Wear tests were conducted by using the principle of pin on disc apparatus to evaluate the wear ability of the composite and to determine the optimum content of reinforcement for its minimum wear rate. Moreover, Investigation of properties such as hardness, impact strength, thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion were also conducted. The result has shown that the control factors have a significant effect on increasing hardness and reducing impact strength, thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion and the wear rate of the composite material. This new composite material will be highly suitable for pulley and other similar applications.