Heat Treatment Effect on Mechanical Properties of Si3N4 Reinforced Al7075-T6 Composite

The impact of heat treatment on the mechanical characteristics of aluminium metal matrix composite (MMC) was examined in this research work. Here the material chosen for matrix was Al7075-T6, which was aluminium alloy that was tempered with T6 configuration and the Al matrix was reinforced with Silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) powder. For the evaluation of mechanical properties totally two samples were fabricated, one was Al7075-T6 itself without any addition of any reinforcement and the other sample was composed of Al7075-T6 + 5% of Si 3 N 4. These two samples were fabricated in necessary testing form with the help of stir casting technique. After fabrication and heat treatment of the samples the sample was mechanically tested to evaluate the tensile and impact strength of the samples prepared to find the changes in the mechanical properties due to the reinforcement of Si 3 N 4 and due to the heat treatment process. The samples were subjected to heat treatment process at a temperature of around 500°C for 5 hours, after treating the samples with heat sudden quenching process was done by cooling with distilled water and artificial ageing process was conducted at 150°C for 24 hours. After all this process of fabrication and heat treatment the samples were analysed to find the mechanical properties.