Fabrication and Mechanical Characterization of Al 7050/ TiO2/BN Hybrid Metal Matrix Composites

Aerospace applications such as wing skins, fuselage frames etc. demands for properties such as stress corrosion cracking resistance, high strength and toughness. Aluminium 7050 alloy is preferable that suits to aerospace applications. No work has been carried taking hybrid reinforcements as TiO2 and h-BN. The interest in use of Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) as one reinforcement is its soft nature, with stand very high temperature and corrosion resistant. Second reinforcement is Titanium dioxide (TiO2) which has good corrosion and wear resistance, high hardness, low cost. The present work focusses on the study of mechanical properties of Al7050 reinforced with 2% h-BN at constant and TiO2 varied in steps as 1%, 3% and 5%. Particle size of h-BN and TiO2 are 40 mu m. Fabrication of aluminium and its alloys via stir casting is an economical technique in the manufacturing of metal matrix composites. The mechanical characteristics like Tensile strength, Impact strength, Hardness, Density was increased in the developed Al7050/TiO2/h-BN hybrid composite. The scope of future work is to evaluate wear properties of hybrid composites. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study found that using Al7050 alloy reinforced with 2% h-BN and varying amounts of TiO2 can significantly improve the mechanical properties of the composite, such as tensile strength, impact strength, hardness, and density. Future research will focus on evaluating the wear properties of these hybrid composites.