Influence of α-Al2O3 Ceramic Nanoparticles on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Pure Aluminium Based Nanocomposites

• Published in: Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals 2024-02, Vol.77 (2), p.533-541
• Main Authors: Shrivastava, Vikas, Gupta, Gaurav, Srivastava, Rachna, Mangal, Dharamvir, Tiwari, Jitendar Kumar, Shakya, Jitendra Singh, Singh, Indra Bhushan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum oxide; Bend strength; Chemistry and Materials Science; Compressive strength; Corrosion and Coatings; Grain growth; Grain refinement; Hardness; Materials Science; Mechanical properties; Metallic Materials; Microstructure; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Original Article; Powder metallurgy; Sintering (powder metallurgy); Sol-gel processes; Tribology
• ISSN: 0972-2815; 0975-1645
• DOI: 10.1007/s12666-023-03138-2

Sol–gel synthesized ceramic α-Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles were mixed with commercially pure Al powder from 0 to 2.5 wt% in composition to prepare nanocomposites. Mixing of the powders was carried out by using two different techniques viz. normal wet-mixing and ultrasonication. Among these two techniques, ultrasonication was found to be more effective method to achieve uniform distribution of nanoparticles. After uniform mixing, the samples were prepared through powder metallurgy route. Hardness, compression and bending test were conducted to investigate the effect of α-Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles on Al. The microstructure of the nanocomposites revealed that the nanoparticles impede the grain growth of Al particles during the time of sintering, which resulted in the grain refinement. Moreover, the strength of the nanocomposite was improved by the subsequent incorporation of nanoparticles. However, beyond 2wt% of nanoparticles content, the bending strength and hardness were reduced considerably. Maximum improvement in the values of compressive and bending strength was found as 64% and 50%, respectively.