Thoguluva Raghavan Vijayaram

Effects of Grinding Process Parameters and Coolants on the Grindability of GFRP Laminates

Grinding is one of the mandatory methods for fabrication of precise glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) parts. In this work, grinding studies were carried out on GFRP using a cubic boron nitride (CBN) wheel. The grinding process was performed at different cutting speeds, feed rates, and depth of cuts. Grinding performance was evaluated by measuring forces and surface roughness of the ground GFRP composite laminate material. The effects of coolants in grinding the composite laminate material were investigated. Test results showed that in most cases, dry grinding achieved the greatest material removal rate and the lowest surface area roughness (Sa). Higher speed tends to produce better surface finish in dry grinding. Surface area roughness produced in wet grinding shows random and drastic variations. Surfaces ground in synthetic coolant show clean, hard, and smooth matrix, and are in general of better quality than those ground with emulsion coolant. Optical and electron microscopy was used to evaluate the grinding mechanism of GFRP laminate material. Surface profile waviness is the predominating factor contributing to surface area roughness over surface peaks and valleys.

Synthesis, characterization and sintering behavior influencing mechanical, thermal and physical properties of pure cordierite and cordierite–ceria

The study of cordierite ceramic is the need of the hour in present technological world for various advanced engineering applications. Cordierite, which has relatively poor mechanical properties, has induced the use of various dopants to study the improvement in mechanical properties. Thirst of seeking new materials with good mechanical properties has revived the research on ceria doped cordierite. Present research conducted on pure cordierite and ceria doped cordierite ceramics has investigated the results of characterization and studied their suitability. Pure cordierite and cordierite-ceria (CeO2) composite ceramics synthesized for various stoichiometric composition (5–20 wt%) were compacted at 240 MPa and sintered between 600 °C and 1350 °C for 3 h. The characterization techniques used in this study were X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The density was calculated using the Archimedes principle. Influence of the ceria addition on cordierite’s mechanical properties such as hardness, flexural strength and fracture toughness and on thermal properties as thermal expansion was studied. XRD results confirmed the presence of cordierite and ceria in the samples heat treated at 1350 °C. Results of FTIR and TG analyses revealed the formation of cordierite and the effect of ceria addition. The mechanical properties studied were found to be encouraging and confirmed the suitability of cordierite-ceria as an alternate material for cordierite.

Manufacturing and Properties of Quartz (SiO2) Particulate Reinforced Al-11.8%Si Matrix Composites

© 2012 Sayuti et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Manufacturing and Properties of Quartz (SiO2) Particulate Reinforced Al-11.8%Si Matrix Composites

Thermal Investigation of Aluminium – 11.8% Silicon (LM6) Reinforced SiO2-Particles

High performance automotive, aerospace, electronics and other industrial and commercial applications are finding tremendous advantages in using metal matrix composites. The reinforcement is very important because it determines the mechanical properties, cost and performance of a given composite. An excellent in mechanical properties, combined with the ease of formability and low cost makes the application of metal matrix composite of aluminium-11.8% silicon reinforced SiO2 to increase steadily. This paper investigates the interrelationships between thermal properties and reinforcement content, microstructure and hardness of LM6 reinforced SiO2 composites. Specimens were fabricated by casting technique for 5, 10, 15 and 20% weight fractions of SiO2 particulate and mesh of: 65 micron. The experimental results show that the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity decreases as SiO2 wt.% of the composite increases and under hardness test, it was found that the hardness value had increased gradually with the increased addition of quartz particulate by weight fraction percentage.

Processing and characterization of pure cordierite and zirconia-doped cordierite ceramic composite by precipitation technique

Pure cordierite and cordierite–ZrO2 composite (5–20 wt%) ceramics for various stoichiometric compositions were synthesized from standard raw materials by a novel precipitation technique. The analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction, simultaneous thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and bulk density were employed to evaluate the properties and microstructure. Results show that the ceramic composites consist of cordierite and zircon phases. The cordierite–zirconia (20 wt%) increased the fracture toughness value from 3.38 to 3.94 MPa, which is mainly due to martensitic transformation present in zirconia. The flexural strength of composite was found to increase from 126.46 to 297.62 MPa. The thermal expansion coefficients of cordierite and cordierite–zirconia (20 wt%) were 4.08 × 106 and 4.42 × 106∘C−1 which may be due to the addition of zirconia.

Effect of Mould Vibration on Mechanical Properties of Particulate Reinforced Aluminium Alloy Matrix Composite

This paper focuses on the mechanical properties of Titanium Carbide (TiC) particulate reinforced aluminium-silicon alloy matrix composite subjected to mould vibration during solidification. In this experimental study, mould vibration is applied to TiC particulate reinforced LM6 alloy matrix composites with a wide range of frequencies. TiC particulate reinforced LM6 alloy matrix composites are fabricated by adding different particulate weight fraction of TiC in the matrix by carbon dioxide molding process. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, hardness, are determined and microstructural features are analyzed through SEM. Besides, fracture surface analysis has been performed to characterize the morphological aspects of the test samples after tensile testing. Preliminary works show that the mechanical properties have been improved with 10.2Hz frequency when compared with the gravity sand-castings without vibration.

Effect of Quartz-Silicon Dioxide Particulate on Tensile Properties of Aluminium Alloy Cast Composites

This paper describes an experimental investigation of the tensile properties of quartz-silicon dioxide particulate reinforced LM6 aluminium alloy composite. In this experimental, quartz-silicon dioxide particulate reinforced LM6 composite were fabricated by carbon dioxide sand moulding process with variation of the particulate content on percentage of weight. Tensile tests were conducted to determine tensile strength and modulus of elasticity followed by fracture surface analysis using scanning electron microscope to characterize the morphological aspects of the test samples after tensile testing. The results show that the tensile strength of the composites decreased with increasing of quartz particulate content. In addition, this research article is well featured by the particulate-matrix bonding and interface studies which have been conducted to understand the processed composite materials mechanical behaviour. It was well supported by the fractographs taken using the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The composition of SiO2 particulate in composite was increased as shown in EDX Spectrum and Fractograph.

The Effect of Bentonite Clay on Green Compression Strength for Tailing Sands from Old Tin Mines in Perak State, Malaysia for Making Green Sand Casting Mould

Clay has an important role in making green sand casting mould beside water. Clay acts as binders, holding the sand grains together. Water is needed to activate the clay bond. Without the addition of water on clay, no strength would be achieved on sand mould, as the sand and clay would be just two dry materials. Bentonite clay was used in this study. Adequate clay content with suitable moisture in moulding sand is important for optimum strength and casting quality. Too little or too much clay will not give proper strength. Green compression strength is one of the mechanical properties to be considered for making green sand casting mould. The green compression strength of foundry sand is the maximum compressive strength that a mixture is capable of sustaining when prepared, rammed and tested according to standard procedure. For this study, test is conducted according to Foundry Sand Testing Equipment Operating Instructions from Ridsdale and Dietert. Result from this study indicates that tailing sand has potential for making green sand casting mould in term of green compression strength. Other factors that must be considered are permeability and shatter index.

Mechanical Properties of Particulate Reinforced Aluminium Alloy Matrix Composite

This paper discusses the mechanical properties of Titanium Carbide (TiC) particulate reinforced aluminium‐silicon alloy matrix composite. TiC particulate reinforced LM6 alloy matrix composites were fabricated by carbon dioxide sand molding process with different particulate weight fraction. Tensile strength, hardness and microstructure studies were conducted to determine the maximum load, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and fracture surface analysis have been performed to characterize the morphological aspects of the test samples after tensile testing. Hardness values are measured for the TiC reinforced LM6 alloy composites and it has been found that it gradually increases with increased addition of the reinforcement phase. The tensile strength of the composites increased with the increase percentage of TiC particulate.

Influence of Mechanical Vibration Moulding Process on the Tensile Properties of TiC Reinforced LM6 Alloy Composite Castings

Vibrational moulding process has a remarkable effect on the properties of castings during solidification processing of metals, alloys, and composites. This research paper discusses on the investigation of mechanical vibration mould effects on the tensile properties of titanium carbide particulate reinforced LM6 aluminium alloy composites processed with the frequencies of 10.2 Hz, 12 Hz and 14 Hz. In this experimental work, titanium carbide particulate reinforced LM6 composites were fabricated by carbon dioxide sand moulding process. The quantities of titanium carbide particulate added as reinforcement in the LM6 alloy matrix were varied from 0.2% to 2% by weight fraction. Samples taken from the castings and tensile tests were conducted to determine the tensile strength and modulus of elasticity. The results showed that tensile strength of the composites increased with an increase in the frequency of vibration and increasing titanium carbide particulate reinforcement in the LM6 alloy matrix.