M. Abbas, S. Nisar, A. Shah, F. Imtiaz Khan,
Volume 12, Issue 2 (6-2015)
Abstract
Aluminium base alloy (Al-Cu-Si) was reinforced with silicon carbide (SiC) particles, in various percentage
compositions from 0-20 wt%. Silicon carbide particle size of 20µm was selected. The molten slurry of SiC reinforced
base aluminium metal was casted through green and dry sand casting methods and solidification process was carried
out under ambient conditions. A selected population of total casted samples were subjected to T6 heat treatment
process, followed by evaluation of mechanical properties of hardness, tensile strength and impact loading. The micro
sized SiC particles were preheated up to 300C prior pouring into the melted metal, for subsequent removal of residual
gases and moisture content. A continuous manual stirring method was used for homogenous distribution of reinforced
particle in molten slurry. The experimental results revealed that the highest parameters of hardness, impact energy and
tensile strength were achieved in the T6 heat treated specimens having highest percentage composition (20%) of
Silicon Carbide (SiC) particles