Investigation on Mechanical and Tribological Properties of AZ91D Fortified with Nanoparticles

Abstract

Magnesium (Mg) is well known for its light weight characteristics and abundantly available around the globe. Mg was created and used extensively in the 19th century for creating parts for aeroplanes and automobiles. Mg is not typically utilised alone in engineering applications, but rather in alloy form to increase the weight-to-strength ratio. In addition, Mg alloys offer better qualities than other structural metals. newlineMg alloys are made by mixing Mg with other metals such as Aluminium (Al), Zinc (Zn), Silicon (Si), Manganese (Mn), Copper (Cu), Zirconium (Zr) and rare earth metals. Due to the hexagonal lattice structure, Mg alloy experiences more plastic deformation compared to cubic lattice structure metal such as Al, Cu and steel. AZ91D is one of the Mg alloys which is a die-cast alloy. The mechanical properties of AZ91D alloy are affected at higher temperatures due to the lack of chemical reaction between the constituent elements during solidification. Hence, attention is to be paid to the limitation of this material while planning to use it for higher temperature environments. newlineParticle strengthening mechanism is a generally practised method to improve the mechanical properties of a material. In this method, reinforcements are added with matrix material that possesses less strength and the performance of the material is improved. Generally, the metal oxides, carbides, carbon nano tubes, graphenes and clays are used as reinforcements in the nano particle strengthening mechanism. Reinforcements are added with matrix by melt mixing procedure such as stir casting, squeeze casting etc. In some applications, the solid-state procedure is followed such as powder metallurgy. newlineThe present research is to improve the performance of AZ91D alloy by particle reinforcing mechanism. Two types of reinforcements like metal oxides and carbide particles were selected for reinforcing AZ91D alloy. Cerium Oxide (CeO2) and Lanthanum Oxide (La2O3), the rare earth metals, are carefully chosen as metal oxide nano particles along wi