The effect of milling time on the preparation of an aluminum matrix composite reinforced with magnetic nanoparticles

Ayman Elsayd; Ahmed Y Shash; Hisham Mattar; Per A Löthman; Mohamed E Mitwally

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16887

The effect of milling time on the preparation of an aluminum matrix composite reinforced with magnetic nanoparticles

Heliyon. 2023 Jun 1;9(6):e16887. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16887. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Ayman Elsayd¹, Ahmed Y Shash^{2

3}, Hisham Mattar^{3

4}, Per A Löthman^{5

6}, Mohamed E Mitwally³

Affiliations

¹ Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, Cairo, Egypt.
² Mechanical Design and Production Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, 12316, Giza, Egypt.
³ The German University in Cairo, Egypt.
⁴ German International University, Egypt.
⁵ Foviatech GmbH, Hamburg, Germany.
⁶ Kaiserslautern University of Applied Science, Zweibrücken, Germany.

Abstract

Powder metallurgy methods, particularly ball milling, are up-and-coming in tuning metal matrix composite (MMC) properties. This study uses ball milling at various milling times to create an aluminum matrix composite (AMC) reinforced with magnetite nanoparticles. The milling time was optimized to create an AMC with favorable mechanical and magnetic properties, and its effect on magnetism, microstructure, and hardness was studied. The AMC displayed the highest magnetic saturation of 11.04 emu/g after 8 h of milling. After compaction and sintering, characterization of the final composite material using Energy Disperse Spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed the presence of Al₂O₃ and Fe₃Al phases leading to enhanced mechanical properties in terms of Vickers hardness that reached a value of 81 Hv corresponding to an increase of 270% compared to unreinforced aluminum.

Keywords: Aluminum matrix composites; Ball milling; Magnetite; Metal matrix composites; Powder metallurgy.