Fabrication And Mechanical Properties Of Aluminum/Zinc Lamellar Composite Reinforced With Alumina Nanoparticles

In this study, microstructural and mechanical properties of aluminum/zinc (Al/Zn) lamellar composite reinforced with alumina nanoparticles (Al/Zn/Al2O3) were compared with Al/Zn lamellar composite. For this purpose, different Al/Zn/Al2O3 samples were fabricated by applying 1, 3, and 5 accumulative press bonding (APB) cycles on the AA1050 aluminum alloy and pure commercial zinc plates together with 1.5 wt. % alumina nanoparticles at ambient temperature. Microstructural and mechanical properties of the samples were evaluated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), uniaxial tensile test, and Vickers microhardness test. The results showed that the alumina nanoparticles agglomerated in the microstructure of the Al/Zn/Al2O3 sample after the first APB cycle, and some porosities were also observed at the interfaces of the layers. However, employing five APB cycles resulted in the uniform distribution of alumina nanoparticles with strong bonding strength to metallic matrix. Additionally, the tensile strength and Vickers microhardness of the Al/Zn and Al/Zn/Al2O3 samples were increased as a function of the number of APB cycles. Furthermore, the measured ultimate tensile strengths of Al/Zn and Al/Zn/Al2O3 after 5 APB cycles were 2 and 2.22 times greater than AA1050 aluminum, respectively. However, the elongation of Al/Zn and Al/Zn/Al2O3 samples was dramatically decreased until the third APB cycles and then slightly increased in the fifth cycle.