Publication

Abstract : The investigation is undertaken to fabrication of an aluminum-boron carbide metal matrix composite and testing its properties for usage in industrial applications. Demand from defense and aerospace industries for materials with increased toughness and strength in comparison to currently available materials in the market had motivated us to study these composite materials. The process of fabrication of the specimen involved powder metallurgy route by compacting the specimen under different loads so as to find optimal load for compaction. The samples were prepared with progressively increasing weight percentage of boron carbide as a reinforcement in the metal matrix composite. The optimized load to achieve the dimension of specimen aimed for was recorded to be 180 kN under atmospheric conditions. The specimen was tested for the following properties such as compaction density, hardness and microstructure. Increasing the wt.% of B4C reinforcement particles in the composite resulted in the marked increase of hardness of the composite the inspection of properties made it clear that the composite retains its low density while combining properties of Al such as ductility with those of B4C such as hardness resulting in a relatively stiff material.