Sintering and Hardness Behavior of Fe-Al₂O₃ Metal Matrix Nanocomposites Prepared by Powder Metallurgy

Abstract

The present paper reports the investigations on sintering and hardness behavior of Fe-Al 2 O 3 Metal Matrix Nanocomposites (MMNCs) prepared by Powder Metallurgy (P/M) route with varying concentration of Al 2 O 3 (5-30 wt%). The MMNC specimens for the present investigations were synthesized by ball milling, followed by compaction and sintering in an inert atmosphere in the temperature range of 900-1100 ∘ C for 1-3 hours using Powder Metallurgy route. Phase and microstructures of the specimens were characterized by XRD and SEM. Reactive sintering takes place in these materials. During sintering nano iron aluminate (FeAl 2 O 4 ) phase forms. Characterization was done by measuring density and hardness. Results have been discussed critically to illustrate the effect of various processing parameters on sintering and mechanical behavior. It is expected that the results of these investigations will be useful in developing Metal Matrix Nanocomposites (MMNCs) for typical industrial applications.

Effect of height to diameter (h/d) ratio on the deformation behaviour of Fe–Al2O3 metal matrix nanocomposites

“…Peaks of the XRD plot were matched with JCPDS data files of iron and aluminum oxide compounds. It was found from the JCPDS files that the present composition contains iron (Fe), aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) and iron aluminate (FeAl 2 O 4 ) phases, respectively [21,24]. The iron aluminate phase formation takes place due to reactive sintering.…”

“…Mixed powder was compacted at a constant load of seven tons followed by sintering in an argon atmosphere at a temperature of 1100 • C for 1 h. After sintering, the compacts were machined on gap or extension type lathe machine so as to achieve the h/d ratio of less than 1 (h = 9 mm, d = 15.2 mm; h/d = 0.59), equal to 1 (h = 12.8 mm, d = 12.8 mm; h/d = 1.0) and greater than 1 (h = 16 mm, d = 11.3 mm; h/d = 1.42). The detailed nomenclature of the specimens sintered at different temperatures and times is discussed in our recent publication [21]. A nomenclature e.g., 5AFe1100(1) is given to a particular specimen in the present case.…”

“…In recent years, our research group has conducted exhaustive investigations on Fe-Al 2 O 3 and Fe-ZrO 2 composites synthesized by P/M technique [17][18][19][20][21]. Various properties investigated for these composite include X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), density, hardness, wear, compressive strength and corrosion.…”

Phase, microstructure, and wear behavior of Al2O3-reinforced Fe–Si alloy-based metal matrix nanocomposites

“…From Figure 11, the EDX results of 5A2SF1200 (3) indicate the formation of Fe-Si within the sample with 66.89% iron and silicon as 33.11% silicon content. Spectrum 5 shows the variation within the materials homogeniously throughout as 70.98% iron, 5.48% silicon, and 8.11% of aluminium throughout the sample.…”

Effect of Sintering Mechanism on the Properties of ZrO2 Reinforced Fe Metal Matrix Nanocomposite

“…Formation of nano-iron aluminate and nano-iron zirconium oxide phase improves the hardness, wear, deformation, and corrosion properties of the composites significantly. Formation of these nanophases and their characteristics depend on sintering temperature and time [14][15][16][17][18][19]. Literature studies revealed that there are few reports on using zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ) as the reinforcement material in iron matrix [20].…”