Mechanical and microstructural effects of SiN and ZrC reinforced AA7075 hybrid composite

Composites have an improved property compared to their base alloy materials, thus demanding applicability in many industrial segments. The present research emphasis was made to improve the mechanical property of base alloy AA7075 with the supplication of Silicon mono nitride and zirconium carbide as hard ceramic reinforcements. Powder metallurgy route was used for the development of the composites. Later the composites were compacted, followed by sintering under optimum conditions. Mechanical property investigation is derived for compression strength and microhardness. A compression strength of 169 MPa with the AA7075 matrix was significantly enhanced by the addition of SiN up to 7 wt%. Further addition of ZrC into the SiN-reinforced composite enhanced this to a peak strength of 198 MPa with the addition of 3 wt% ZrC. This study further showed that while an increase in SiN content higher than 7 wt% raised the porosity and correspondingly lowered the mechanical properties, the optimum composition of 7 wt% SiN and 3 wt% ZrC balanced the strength and porosity rather well. The AA7075/SiN/ZrC developed hybrid composites in the present work have evidenced considerably improved mechanical properties; thus, they could find varied high-performance applications in the aerospace, automotive, defense, and industrial machinery sectors. The current findings have significant implications in the design and optimization of hybrid composites for advanced engineering applications. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.