Mechanical behaviour of hybrid composite (AA6351+Al2O3+Gr) fabricated by stir casting method

In the current scenario, particulate reinforced aluminium matrix composites present a plenty of applications to aircraft, marine, structural, transportation and automobile industries. This article deals with the fabrication of hybrid AA6351 aluminium matrix composites which incorporates stir casting route. In the process of fabrication AA6351 is reinforced in which Al2O3\ and Gr are the hybriding materials. The microstructure and the mechanical behavior of the parent alloy and the produced composites were studied. The reinforcing effect of Al2O3/Gr combined with the parent alloy is studied wherein the investigation went into the intensity of macrohardness, microhardness, tensile strength and flexural strength. Optical microscope was adapted for characterizing the composites. Optical microscope observed the particle distribution of the produced composites. Optical microphotographs depict the nearly homogeneous distribution of the reinforcement particles in the base metal matrix. The hardness, thetensile strength and the flexural strength are found to increase in the AA6351 base matrix alloy with the increase in reinforcement. The mechanical properties of the AA6351 alloy are significantly improved after the dispersion of Al2O3/Gr particles. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.