Rolling of Al-SiC_p Composites

Aluminum based metal matrix composites are offering o utstanding properties in a number of automotive and aircraft components and body structures. The major advantages of these composite materials are their high st rength to weight ratio, high stiffness, high hardness, wear resistance, low coef ficient of thermal expansion, superior dimensional stability and versatility to designer. In addition to these their isotropic properties, good forming characte ristics, easy availability of cheaper reinforcements along with the availability of comparatively low cost, high volume production methods have made them a prom ising material for future growth. Weight reduction is a major goal of automotive innovations. Lighter vehicles/ ai rcraft means less fuel consumption, reduced emissions, and improved performance. Components made from highly loaded aluminium matrix composites are attractive r elative to iron based materials because of their low density, high stiffness (eq uivalent to nodular iron) and better heat transfer characteristics. The basic co st of materials is higher with these advanced composites; however, manufacturing the part to near net shape may offset basic material costs. A good aluminium based material design can improves safety. The aluminium-based composites can give cars better acceleration and braking, improved handling, ex cellent durability, and ease of repair. Tha aluminum-based composite performs a s well or better in crash than conventional steel-structured cars because of th eir larger volume, which can absorb more crash energy. Another excellent advanta ge of Al-SiC p composite in auto design is better stability and response, and reduced noise, vibration/harshness (NHV). These advantages stem from reduced veh icle weight combined with high structural stiffness and also lead to improved st ability and turning response. In the present work Al-SiC p composite plates of 10 to 12 mm thickness w ere cast using sand casting as well as die casting process. The plates were furt her machined to 3 to 4 mm thicknesses. The machined plates were subjected to col d as well hot rolling. The cold rolling of Al-3 wt.% SiC composite plates was done on 2 high experimental cold rolling mill at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., R esearch and Development centre, Faridabad. For hot rolling, the Al-5 weight % SiC p composite plates were heat treated at 500 ℃ temperature and Al-15 weight % SiC p composite plates were heat treate d at 550 ℃ temperature for 20 minutes. The plates were hot rolled on 2 high ro lling mill of one ton capacity at IIT Delhi. The maximum percentage reduction ob tained after hot rolling of Al-5 weight % SiC p composite and Al- 15 weight % SiC p composite plates for 10 passes was 11 % and 6 % respectively. During col d rolling of Al-SiC p composites cracks (particle fracture) were observed due to the low ductility of Al-SiC p composties at room temperature. The various m echanical properties such as tensile strength, hardness and wear resistance were measured for the rolled and un-rolled Al-SiC p composite plates. The tensile strength of un-rolled and rolled Al-5wt.% SiC p composites are shown in Tab. 1. Table shows that the tensile strength decreases after rolling. This may be du e to the damage of the bonding between aluminum and silicon carbide particulates . The Rockwell hardness values of Al-5 wt.% SiC p composites measured before a nd after hot rolling are shown in Tab.2. The hardness was found to decrease afte r hot rolling, which may be due to the annealing of composites during heating. T he Rockwell hardness values of Al-3 wt.% SiC p composites before and after cold rolling are shown in Tab.3. The Table shows that the Rockwell hardness of Al-SiC p compostes increases after cold rolling due to the workhardening effec t. The wear resistance of rolled and un-rolled Al-SiC p composites were teste d on reciprocating ball on flat wear testing machine. The wear resistance of Al -SiC p composites decreases after hot rolling due to decrease in hardness