An investigation into the effects of graphite particles on the damping behavior of ZA-27 alloy composite material

The objective of present work is to investigate the effect of macroscopic graphite particles on damping behavior of ZA-27 alloy composites. Compo casting technique was used to prepare the composites, in which the graphite particles were used to reinforce ZA-27 alloy, in varying fractions in order to arrive at optimum graphite reinforcement for bearing applications and establish a correlation of experimental readings. The experimental method used was the cantilever technique with Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer to evaluate damping properties. Standard strips of size 60 mm x 10 mm x 1 mm thick were tested by cantilever method of vibration tests at various temperatures from ambient to 300 degrees C. It was observed that the damping capacity of the material increased with increasing temperature and fractions of graphite particles. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.