Experimental Investigation on Performance Characteristics of a Diesel Engine with Piston using Aluminium LM25 Alloy Reinforced with B4C and Graphite Particulate

At present, aluminium has an enormous demand in the field of engineering and aerospace sectors. But this systematic advancement desires somewhat new apart from aluminium. In this investigation, aluminium LM25 alloy is taken as a base matrix material, while boron carbide and graphite particulate is exploited as a reinforcement. Stir casting technique, which is a fluid state procedure, is utilized for the manufacture of the metal matrix composites. Four distinctive MMC specimens were produced with 5% B4C and 5% graphite, 6.5% B4C and 3.5% graphite, 7.5% B4C and 2.5% graphite are utilized as samples. Mechanical properties like tensile strength, hardness and wear test are studied on the composite specimens. Morphological studies are also examined on the tested samples using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to detect the bonding among reinforcements and matrix. The results were plotted and graphically demonstrated to convey those materials characteristics. From the tensile results, it is noticed that the strength increased with increase in the percentage of reinforcement, and hardness also increased with the percentage of reinforcement in the sample. In this investigation, prepared a piston with reinforced composition of 6.5% B4C and 3.5% graphite. This prepared piston is made to run on a diesel engine and evaluated the performance characteristics of a diesel engine. Experimental results showed that the performance characteristics of a diesel engine are improved by using aluminium LM25 alloy piston.