A Comparative Study on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Al-GNPs Composites Fabricated by Casting Method

This paper describes an investigation on microstructures as well as mechanical properties of pure aluminium graphene nano platelets (GNPs) metal matrix composites prepared via novel based stir casting technique combined with ultrasonic treatment. The proportion of graphene changes from 0.5 to 2.0 wt. % in aluminium with 99% purity. The investigations on composites revealed that Al with combination of 1.0 % graphene composite showcased enhanced mechanical properties with 48.49 % (~49%) increase in tensile strength and 34.53 % (~35%) increase in micro hardness compared to test results of composites produced by traditional stir casting technique. FESEM analysis was done to examine the surface morphology of produced composite and fracture surface of tested composites where as XRD analysis was to inspect the phase analysis of produced composites. It reveals that, through cavitational effect there was a uniform distribution of graphene in aluminium matrix and composites were casted with less porosity due to which there is significant enhancement in mechanical properties compare to composites produced by stir casting technique