Investigation of Ageing Parameters on Properties of AL/ALBITE MMCs

The objective of the work was to investigate effect of an accelerated aging on properties of Al6061/albite metal matrix composites(MMCs) such as age hardening, electric resistivity and micro-structural behavior. The samples were aging at 32, 80, 180, and 320°C for 0.01 to 100 hours. The peak of the hardness and the resistivity values of the MMCs increase with increasing reinforcements and ageing temperatures due to ageing precipitation significantly accelerated because of addition of reinforcement. The nucleation process influences dislocation density and it reduces the activation energy for precipitation hence the faster and higher precipitation was observed in MMCs. Changes in the properties of the composites during aging have been demonstrated on the basis of microstructural alterations during ageing.