Synthesis and properties analysis of char-reinforced Al-13.5Si-2.5Mg alloy composites

The re-evaluation of previous and existing methods in materials processing is becoming ever more critical because of processing and starting materials cost factors. A study on the synthesis and properties investigation of hypereutectic Al-13.5Si-2.5Mg alloy reinforced with carbon chars using coconut shell as the organic precursor has been carried out. The low-cost, double compaction solid-state technique was used. Reinforcing the hypereutectic alloy with coconut shell char particles (size: 2 reduced its strength in the range of 19 to 26% at different burn-off percentages. This is attributed to the higher amount of oxide products formed during the activation process. At 600 °C, formation of the brittle Al4C3 phase in the different sintered composites containing activated and unactivated chars was identified by X-ray studies.