Abdulsalam H. M., Charles O. T., Ahmed B., Samuel M., 2018, The Influence of Silicon Carbide Particulate Loading on Tensile, Compressive and Impact Strengths of Al-Sicp Composite for Sustainable Development, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 63, 619-624.
Metal matrix composites reinforced with silicon carbide are potential materials for various applications owing to their excellent mechanical properties. This study investigated the effect of silicon carbide particulate loading on the tensile, compressive and impact strengths of Aluminium (6,063)–silicon carbide composite. The silicon carbide particulates were loaded at 10 wt% intervals between 10 wt% and 50 wt % SiCp with the 0 % loading as a control. The composites were produced by stir casting. Tensile strength, compressive strength and impact strength tests were conducted on samples of the produced composites. The result revealed a general pattern of increase in the tested parameters with an increase in percentage loading of SiCp up to a certain level after which declines were observed. The tensile strength increased from 131 MPa to a peak of 194.6MPa after which it declined; compressive strength increased from 163.6 MPa to a peak value of 233.5 MPa and the impact strength increased from 140 kJ/mm2 to 250 kJ/mm2 as the silicon carbide content increasedfrom 0 wt% to 40 wt%. The parameters observed for the 50 wt% loading were 10.40 %, 21.87 % and 8.96 % less than the peak values for tensile, compressive and impact strengths respectively. The 40 wt% loading of SiCp in Aluminium 6063 alloy produced the best-observed effect on the tensile, compressive and impact strengths of the composite studied. It was concluded that the composition of the studied composite with 40 wt% silicon carbide content is the more suitable for high-performance applications.
