Abstract—Metal Matrix Composites (MMC’s) have been developed to meet the demand for lighter materials with high specific strength, stiffness and wear resistance. Among Metal matrix composites particulate reinforced aluminium matrix composites are attractive due to significant improvements in mechanical and physical properties like such as superior strength to weight ratio, good ductility, high strength and high modulus, low thermal expansion coefficient, excellent wear resistance, excellent corrosion resistance, high temperature creep resistance and better fatigue strength. Aluminium based MMC's find wide applications in aerospace, automobiles and marine sectors, etc. The mechanical properties of aluminium matrix composites are strongly dependent on microstructural parameters like shape, size, volume fraction and distribution of reinforcement particles which have to be carefully chosen. Therefore, judicious selection of the variables is important to optimize the properties of the composites. In this present work, metal matrix composites with Al alloy LM13 as matrix and silicon dioxide particulates were produced with varying amount of 3 to 12 wt% in steps of 3 for particle size 106 µm and were fabricated by stir casting process. Above prepared composites are subjected to the mechanical testing as per the ASTM standards. The investigation reveals that there is a significant improvement in the mechanical properties of the composite. The tensile strength and hardness were found to increase with the increase in the wt% of SiO2 reinforcement.

Index Terms—Al alloy LM13, Silica, Stir casting.

Cite: Mallikarjuna G B, K V Sreenivas Rao, and R H Jayaprakash, "Preparation and Property Evaluation of Aluminium-Silica Composites by Casting Route," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol.1, No.3, pp. 118-124, October 2012.