The Effect of Geometrical Ratio and Nanoparticle Reinforcement on the Properties of Al-Based Nanocomposite Hollow Sphere Structures

In the present study, the properties of Al-Al2O3 nanocomposite hollow sphere structures were investigated. For this reason, the Al-based nanocomposite hollow spheres with different amounts of nano-alumina reinforcement (0-10wt %) and different ratio of thickness to diameter (t/D: 0.06-0.3) were prepared via a powder metallurgy method. Then, the effect of mentioned parameters was studied on physical and quasi static mechanical properties of their related prepared structures (open/closed cell) such as density, hardness, strength, and energy absorption. It was found that, as the t/D ratio increases the relative density, compressive strength and energy absorption increase. The highest values of strength and energy absorption were obtained from the specimen with 5 wt. % of nanoparticle reinforcement, t/D of 0.3 (t=1 mm, D=400μm) as 22.88 MPa and 13.24 MJ/m3, respectively. The moderate specific strength of prepared composites in the present study showed the good consistency with the properties of others low carbon steel composite with similar structure.

Authors:

• M. Amirjan

Keywords:

• Hollow sphere structure foam
• nanocomposite
• t/D (thickness
• diameter)
• powder metallurgy.

References:

[1] J. A. Santa Maria, B. F. Schultz, J. B. Ferguson, P. K. Rohatgi, “Al–
Al2O3 syntactic foams – Part I: Effect of matrix strength and hollow
sphere size on the quasi-static properties of Al-A206/Al2O3 syntactic
foams” Mat. Sci. Eng. A, no. 582, pp. 415–422, 2013.
[2] I. Norbert Orbulov, “Compressive properties of aluminium matrix
syntactic foams”, Mat. Sci. Eng. A, no. 555, pp. 52– 56, 2012.
[3] G. Castro, S. R. Nutt, X. Wenchen, “Compression and low-velocity
impact behavior of aluminum syntactic foam”, Mat. Sci. Eng. A, no.
578, pp. 222-229, 2013.
[4] Y. Liu, H.-Xiang Wu, X. Zhang, B. Wang, “The influence of lattice
structure on the dynamic performance of metal hollow sphere
agglomerates”, Mech. Res. Com., no. 38, pp. 569-573, 2011.
[5] M. Amirjan, H. Khorsand, M Khorasani,” Fluidized bed coating
efficiency and morphology of coatings for producing Al-based
nanocomposite hollow spheres”, Int. J. Min., Met. Mat., Vol 21, no. 11,
pp.1146, Nov. 2014.
[6] L. P. Lefebvre, J. Banhart, D. Dunand, “Porous Metals and Metallic
Foams: Current Status and Recent Developments”, Adv. Eng. Mat., pp.
775-787, 2008.
[7] S. Roy, A. Wanner, T. Beck, T. Studnitzky, G. Stephani,” Mechanical
properties of cellular solids produced from hollow stainless steel
spheres”, J. Mat. Sci., no. 46, pp. 5519-5526, 2011. [8] M. Amirjan, H. Khorsand, “On the Microstructure and Properties of Al-
Al2O3 Nanocomposites Hollow Sphere Structures” Proc. of 5th Int.
Cong. Nanosci. Nanotech. (ICNN2014), 22-24 Oct. 2014, Tehran, Iran
[9] M. Amirjan, H. Khorsand,” The Effect of Al2O3 Nanoparticle Addition
on the Coating Behavior of Al-based Suspensions in Producing
Nanocomposite Hollow Spheres”, Proc. of 5th Int. Cong. Nanosci.
Nanotech. (ICNN2014), 22-24 Oct. 2014, Tehran, Iran
[10] M. Rahimian, N. Parvin, N. Ehsani, “Investigation of particle size and
amount of alumina on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al
matrix composite made by powder metallurgy”, Mat. Sci. Eng. A, no.
527, pp. 1031-1038, 2010.
[11] A. Fallet, P. Lhuissier, L. Salvo, Y. Brechet, “Mechanical Behavior of
Metallic Hollow Spheres Foams”, Adv. Eng. Mat., no. 10, pp. 858-862,
2008.
[12] A. Rabiei, L. J. Vendra, “A comparison of composite metal foam's
properties and other comparable metal foams”, Mat. Let, no. 63, pp. 533-
536, 2009.
[13] P. Li, N. Petrinic, C. R. Siviour, “Finite element modelling of the
mechanism of deformation and failure in metallic thin-walled hollow
spheres under dynamic compression”, Mech. Mat., no. 54, pp. 43-54,
2012.
[14] P. Neville, A. Rabiei, “Composite metal foams processed through
powder metallurgy”, Mat. Des. No. 29, 2008.
[15] T. J. Lim, B. Smith, D. L. McDowell, “Behavior of a random hollow
sphere metal foam”, Acta Mat., no. 50, pp.2867-2879, 2002.
[16] G. Stephani, D. Kupp, T. D. Claar, U. Waag, “Fabrication of Ti-Based
Components with Controlled Porosity”, Int. Conf. on Powd. Met. Partic.
Mat., Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing and Advanced Materials.
pp. 50-58, 2001.