Study on Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Aluminium alloy 63401 Reinforced with Silicon Carbide Powder

In a metal matrix composite material an Al alloy is taken as metal matrix reinforcing with different type of reinforcing material like SiC, fly ash, Red mud etc in order to prepare different samples for testing different mechanical properties like hardness test, impact strength, tensile strength along with its wear behaviour, electrical conductivity so that it can be applied for better applications if the outcome shows improvement in the properties. The present research examine the mechanical properties and microstructure of aluminium alloy 63401 metal matrix composite reinforced with silicon carbide powder of different wt % i.e. 3%, 6% and 9% and different grain size. Conducted the experiment by keeping the SiC grain size constant at 74 µm, 149µm and 177 µm and varied the SiC weight %. The mechanical properties i.e., hardness, tensile strength and impact strength were studied by preparing the desired samples by stir casting method. From the obtained results we found that more the weight percentage of SiC powder, hardness, impact strength and tensile strength increases. The percentage elongation decreases with increase in weight percentage of SiC and increases with decrease in grain size of SiC. Also microstructure shows the nearly distribution of reinforcement material.