Fatigue performance of the aluminium-magnesium/magnesium aluminate in-situ composites synthesized through manganese dioxide and copper oxide reinforcement

Aluminium-2magnesium alloy castings find its application in engineering sectors where fatigue property is a key requirement. Few researches have been carried out in the past to improve its fatigue property by micro, nano reinforcements. However, the requirement of intended application has not yet attained and hence this current research study has been taken up to provide a solution. This research work focuses through a novel approach for synthesizing in-situ magnesium aluminate particles in aluminium-2magnesium alloy by the addition of manganese dioxide and copper oxide precursor addition (1 wt.%, 1.5 wt.% and 2 wt.%) during the casting process. Microstructure of fabricated composites were examined through field emission scanning electron microscopy to characterize the morphology and distribution of magnesium aluminate particles. The fabricated aluminium-2magnesium/magnesium aluminate in-situ composite specimens were subjected to low cycle fatigue testing at two different strain amplitudes of 0.3 % and 0.4 % and a frequency of 0.3 Hz. Among all composite specimens, specimens reinforced with 2 wt.% manganese dioxide and 2 wt.% copper oxide outperformed when tested in strain amplitudes of 0.3 % and 0.4 % respectively. Fractography studies were performed on failed composite specimens to study the modes of failure that resulted after fatigue testing.