Mechanical and wear behaviour of steel chips reinforced Zn27Al composites

The mechanical and wear behaviour of Zn27Al alloy reinforced with steel machining chips (an industrial waste) was investigated. Two step stir casting process was used to produce the Zn27Al based composites consisting of 5, 7.5 and 10 wt.% of the steel machining chips while unreinforced Zn27Al alloy and a composition consisting of 5 wt.% alumina were also prepared as control samples. Microstrutural analysis; mechanical and wear behaviour were assessed for these composites. The results show that the hardness and wear resistance of the composites increased with increase in weight percent of the steel chips from 5 to 10 wt.%. The UTS, strain to fracture, and the fracture toughness were however highest for the 5 wt.% steel chips reinforced composite grade; and decreased with increase in the weight percent of the steel chips from 5 to 10 wt.%. Generally the Zn27Al alloy based composites reinforced with steel machining chips, exhibited superior mechanical and wear properties in comparison to the unreinforced Zn27Al alloy and the 5 wt.% alumina reinforced Zn27Al alloy composite.