Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Matrix Composite Reinforced by Carbothermally Reduced of Fly Ash

The addition of fly ash into aluminum as reinforcement can potentially reduce the production cost and density of aluminum. However, mechanical properties of aluminum matrix composite reinforced by fly ash (MMC ALFA) have some limitations due to the characteristic of fly ash. In this study, a carbothermal reduction process of fly ash and activated carbon powder with particle size <32 μm was performed prior to produce MMC ALFA.

The process was carried out in a furnace at 1300° C in vacuum condition under argon flow. Synthesis product was analyzed by XRD with $Cu‐Kα$ radiation. From XRD analysis, it shows that the synthesis process can produce SiC powder. The synthesis product was subsequently used as reinforcement particle. Aluminum powder was mixed with 5, 10 and 15% of the synthesized powder, and then uni‐axially compacted at pressure of 300 MPa. The compacted product was sintered for 2 hours in argon atmosphere at temperature variation of 550 and 600° C. Flexural strength, hardness and density of MMC ALFA’s product were respectively evaluated using a four point bending test method based on ASTM C1161 standard, Brinell hardness scale and Archimedes method. The result of this study shows that the increase of weight of reinforcement can significantly increase the hardness and flexural strength of MMCs. The highest hardness and flexural strength of the MMC product are $300 kg/mm2$ and 107.5 MPa, respectively.