Simulation and Experimental Studies of Al Metal Matrix Composites Reinforced With Fe3Al Intermetallic

Abstract

In this thesis molecular dynamics simulation (MD) and experimental compressive deformation studies on the mechanical properties of Al metal matrix composites reinforced with different volume fractions (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) of Fe3Al intermetallics is investigated. The studies are carried out at different strain rates (1011 s -1 , 1010 s -1 , 109 s -1 and 108 s -1 ) and temperatures (10K, 50K, 100K, 200K and 300K). The Aluminium and its alloys have excellent ductility but reasonable strength makes it widely used in the field of automotive, aerospace. Nowadays Albased composites are used due to their superior mechanical properties. The reinforcements added to MMC will improve the properties of the composite like yield strength, hardness, density and wear behavior. The reinforcements are ceramic, metallic and non-metallic used in the form of particles, fibers, and laminates. There are several studies done on the non-metallic and ceramic reinforcements. However, there are least studies done on the reinforcement such as Fe3Al on the mechanical behavior. In this study Al-Fe3Al composite is synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA). In MD simulation a box of dimension 50 100 50 Å 3 is created with 15708 atoms. The Fe3Al particles are reinforced as spherical clusters in Al matrix all over the volume. This composite is subjected to different loading conditions and temperatures. Inter atomic forces are calculated by using the embedded atom method (EAM). With the help of Ovito software the structural changes have studied, and from the stress-strain plots the changes in mechanical properties have been observed. In Fig.1, it has been observed that with an increase in the volume fraction of reinforcement from 5% to 20% the compressive strength of the material is increasing. These results have been compared with the experimental results. It was found that the strength of the composite is increasing with reducing the temperature and adding of Fe3Al intermetallics to the Al metal matrix increases the yield strength and hardness.