Studies on Mechanical Behaviour of the Cast and the Forged Al-Graphite Particulate Composites

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Abstract
Al-Graphite composites have been prepared using liquid metallurgy technique with Al-3 % Mg as the base alloy. The composites of three different volume fractions varying from .022 to 0.067 and three different particulate sizes (75-250 μm) have been used for the study. The microstructure, particule size distribution and tensile properties have been studied in both the cast and the forged conditions of the composites. The main findings are that the strength and ductility 1. Decrease with increasing vol. % of graphite 2. Increase with particulate size at a given vol. % of graphite 3. Increase with inter-particle spacing A comparison has been made between the cast and the forged composites with respect to strength and ductility. The tensile fracture strain in these composites appears to follow Thomosan's void coalescence model. The micromechanism of fracture has been studied using SEM and the results have been correlated with the tensile properties.