Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Aluminium Alloy T6-6061 (Reinforced with ZRO2) Subjected to Forging

This Paper involves the development of Aluminium T6 6061 alloy using forging process. The Standard Al T6 6061 alloy ingots was melted and super-heated in the electrical resistance furnace for about 8 hours at 750°C. The superheated melt was reinforced with zirconium dioxide in 3% and 6% weight proportions. The molten metal was poured into a cylindrical rod die of dimensions 300mm x 200mm and allowed to solidify at ambient temperature. The cast specimens were later forged for comparison study purposes. The microstructure and mechanical characterization of forged and unforged cast specimens. The microstructural characterization of forged cast sample exhibits fine grain structure with spherical morphology of secondary magnesium and silicon magnesium and silicon phase in the Al matrix whereas the unforged cast sample indicates coarse with dendrite type morphology. The strength results in terms of tensile of forged cast specimen reveals significant improvement in the tensile strength over the unforged cast specimens due to unforged cast specimen due to refined grain structure. The hardness results in terms of brinell hardness of reinforced specimens showed decrement compared to their base alloy.