Effect of particle size of SiC in aluminium matrix on workability and strain hardening behaviour of P/M composite

A complete experimental investigation on workability behaviour of the Al-SiC has been carried out during cold upsetting. The present study has been performed to evaluate the effect of particle size of silicon carbide addition in P/M preforms of Al-SiC composite on workability studies. The material studied in this paper is aluminium with SiC reinforcement. SiC content has been varied from 0% to 20% with different particle sizes namely 50, 65 and 120 mu m. The experimental results were analyzed for workability under triaxial stress state condition as a function of the relative density. The formability stress index (beta), stress ratio parameters namely (sigma(theta)/sigma(eff) and sigma(z)/sigma(m) strain hardening index (n) value and strength coefficient (K) value were obtained for each percentage addition of SiC and its particle sizes. It is found that these parameters have shown tremendous variations in their values for different particle sizes and percentage content of SiC. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.