Fracture and mechanical properties of steel fibre reinforced Zn–5Al (Zamak 5) alloy

Abstract

Steel fibre reinforced Zn-5Al alloy (Zamak 5) metal matrix composite beams with different volume fractions of steel fibres were produced with varying notch to depth ratios. The fracture and mechanical properties of the specimens were investigated for their mode I fracture behaviour using three point bending tests under static loading at room temperature. Steel fibres with contents of 1, 2 and 3% of the total volume of Zn-5Al alloy were used as matrix materials. The critical stress intensity factor was determined using the initial notch depth method.