Development of high-performance aluminium 6061/SiC nanocomposites by ultrasonic aided rheo-squeeze casting method

Thirugnanasambandam Arunkumar; T Selvakumaran; Ram Subbiah; Karthikeyan Ramachandran; Sivakumar Manickam

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105631

Development of high-performance aluminium 6061/SiC nanocomposites by ultrasonic aided rheo-squeeze casting method

Ultrason Sonochem. 2021 Aug:76:105631. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105631. Epub 2021 Jun 13.

Authors

Thirugnanasambandam Arunkumar¹, T Selvakumaran², Ram Subbiah³, Karthikeyan Ramachandran⁴, Sivakumar Manickam⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India. Electronic address: arunmailinbox@gmail.com.
² Department of Aerospace Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai, India.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokaraju Rangaraju Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, India.
⁴ Department of Aerospace and Aircraft Engineering, Kingston University London, UK.
⁵ Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan BE1410, Brunei Darussalam.

Abstract

In the modern era, the need for new products with novel processing and multipurpose materials is increased. The current market requirements for engineering applications are lightweight, high strength and low-cost materials. This paper explores the novel development process of high-performance nano cermet material for aerospace applications. Herein, lightweight aluminium 6061 + 2% of SiC (40 nm) nano cermet was fabricated through the casting method. The effects of ultrasonication, double stir casting or rheocasting, and squeezing pressure on nano cermet fabrication were successfully investigated by comparing their physical, thermal and mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscopy was employed to analyse the morphology of the cermets, and the presence of reinforcements was verified through EDS. The reinforcement of SiC into Al 6061 improved density, hardness, and reduction in porosity and grain refinement. This study reveals a novel fabrication process of ultrasonic-aided rheo-squeeze casting technique which enhanced the mechanical properties of the cermets compared to Al 6061 alloy due to nanoparticles homogeneous distribution, nominal agglomeration and porosity.

Keywords: Al 6061/SiC; Grain refinement; Homogeneous distribution; Rheocasting; Ultrasonication.