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Effect of Carbon Nanotube Dispersion on Mechanical Properties of Aluminum-Silicon Alloy Matrix Composites

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Abstract

This study has been carried out to reinforce the commonly believed fact that the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in a composite has a profound effect on the properties of the composite. In this study, ball milling was carried out using two different parameters to obtain distinctly different degrees of dispersion of carbon nanotubes (4 wt.%) in Al-9 wt.% Si powders. Composite disks, 80 mm in diameter, having good and bad dispersions of carbon nanotubes were obtained by hot pressing. Optical micrographs and Raman spectroscopy images showed the presence of larger carbon nanotube clusters in the bad dispersion sample. Transmission electron microscopy images confirmed the presence of large clusters in the bad dispersion sample, while the good dispersion sample showed individual carbon nanotubes in the Al matrix. Nanoindentation results indicated a 41% increase in the hardness and a 27% increase in the elastic-to-plastic work ratio, while compression tests indicated a 185% increase in compression yield strength and a 109% increase in fracture strength with improvement in carbon nanotube’s dispersion.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the funding from ISRO-IITM Cell (ICSR/ISRO-IITM/MET/11-12/134/SRRB) for carrying out the sudy. Authors are also thankful to Ms. Kanchanamala of IIT Madras for helping with TEM imaging.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

    Prathap Chandran, Tadepalli Sirimuvva, S. L. Pramod & Srinivasa R. Bakshi

  2. Materials and Mechanical Entity, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum, 695022, India

    Niraj Nayan, A. K. Shukla, S. V. S. Narayana Murty & S. C. Sharma

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  1. Prathap Chandran
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Correspondence to Srinivasa R. Bakshi.

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Chandran, P., Sirimuvva, T., Nayan, N. et al. Effect of Carbon Nanotube Dispersion on Mechanical Properties of Aluminum-Silicon Alloy Matrix Composites. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 23, 1028–1037 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-013-0835-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-013-0835-1

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