Carbon Nanotube Addition to Simultaneously Enhance Strength and Ductility of Hybrid AZ31/AA5083 Alloy

Muralidharan Paramsothy, Manoj Gupta, Jimmy Chan, Richard Kwok

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DOI: 10.4236/msa.2011.21004                

Abstract

AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy nanocomposite containing CNT nanoparticle reinforcement was fabricated using solidification processing followed by hot extrusion. The AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy nanocomposite exhibited similar grain size to monolithic AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy, reasonable CNT nanoparticle distribution, non-dominant (0 0 0 2) texture in the longitudinal direction, and 20% higher hardness than monolithic AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy. Compared to monolithic AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy (in tension), the AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy nanocomposite exhibited higher 0.2% TYS, UTS, failure strain and work of fracture (WOF) (+ 9%, + 4%, + 38% and + 44%, respectively). Also, compared to monolithic AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy (in compression), the AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy nanocomposite exhibited similar 0.2% CYS (+ 1%), and higher UCS, failure strain and WOF (+ 7%, + 23% and + 23%, respectively). The effect of CNT nanoparticle addition on the enhanced tensile and compressive response of AZ31/AA5083 hybrid alloy is investigated in this paper.

Keywords

AZ31/AA5083 Hybrid Alloy, Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite, Microstructure, Mechanical Properties

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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