Efficacy of heat treatment on the material properties of aluminium alloy matrix composite impregnated with silver nano particle/calcium carbonate Al–AgNp/CaCO₃

Most innovative industries, for example, have begun to look for new engineering materials with better qualities. Aluminium metal matrix (AMCs) has been successfully used as “high tech” materials in a variety of industrial applications due to their improved functional properties. The aluminium-based composites with nano reinforced particulates is a promising material with good thermal stability, light weight, higher strength, increased stiffness, better fracture toughness, enhanced corrosion resistance, enriched fatigue, wear and tensile behaviour. It is a highly sorted material utilized in marine, automobile, as well as aerospace industries. In this study, the effect of heat treatment on the material properties of aluminium alloy matrix composite impregnated with silver nano particle/calcium carbonate (Al– AgNp/CaCO₃) was investigated. The stir casting technique has a proven record for the production of a homogenous mixture of aluminium alloy (AA 6063) matrix composite. The samples cast include S1, S2 and S3 consisting of varied weight of AgNp + CaCO3 at 2%, 4%, 6%, respectively, while samples S4, S5 and S6 consist of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) at 2%, 4% and 6% composition respectively as well as the Control sample „C‟. A portion of each sample was heat-treated at 522 °C for 60 minutes and rapidly cooled in water to produce a T4 temper. The hardness, impact behaviour and tensile strength of the heat-treated materials were evaluated. The results established were compared with that of the unheated and C (control) samples. It was established that the hardness of the heat-treated samples increased with the addition of AgNp + CaCO₃ at 2% and 6% only. Similarly, the hardness of tempered samples impregnated with CaCO₃ particles only increased only at 6% composition. The impact strength of the heat-treated samples increased when reinforced with 4% and 6% of AgNp + CaCO₃. The addition of CaCO₃ has the same effect on the heat-treated samples at 2%, 4% and 6% composition. The major achievement of this research is establishing the optimum composition of reinforcement particle of AgNp and Caco₃ that have positive effects on the mechanical properties of heat treated AA6063 alloy matrix. Further heat treatment work is recommended in the area of annealing and quenching in different media and also varying the composite percentage above 6%.