Issue 63

G. Santosh et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 63 (2023) 100-109; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.63.10

Investigation on microstructure and tensile fractography of RE Oxides (CeO 2 /Y 2 O 3 ) reinforced AZ91D Magnesium Matrix Composites

Santhosh Gotagunaki, Vardhaman S. Mudakappanavar Department of Mechanical Engineering, B. M. S College of Engineering, Bengaluru-560019, India santhoshggec@gmail.com, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9947-8802 vardhaman.mech@bmsce.ac.in, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0831-5528 R. Suresh Department of Mechanical Engineering, M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bangalore--560058, India sureshchiru09@gmail.com, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6956-9751

A BSTRACT . The current work aims to investigate the mechanical properties of rare oxide reinforced Mg alloy based MMCs. Magnesium matrix considered in the study is AZ91D alloy, whereas rare earth oxides reinforced were CeO 2 and Y 2 O 3 . The Y 2 O 3 particulate reinforcement percentage was varied from 1 to 3% in the steps of 1% to study its influence on mechanical properties of MMCs. Stir casting route was adopted to fabricate sample for study. Microstructure analysis illustrated the uniform distribution of particulate in matrix alloys. The obtained results revealed the enhanced mechanical properties such as tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and hardness of MMCs due to increased percentage of reinforcement. Fractography analysis of fracture surfaces demonstrated the microcracks and cleavage were dominant in pure alloy. While particle debonding, extensive plastics deformation were prominent in-addition to microcracks in MMCs. K EYWORDS . Mechanical Properties, AZ91D, Rare earth oxides, Metal matrix composites.

Citation: Gotagunaki, S., Mudakappanavar, V. S., Suresh, R., Investigation on microstructure and tensile fractography of RE Oxides (CeO 2 /Y 2 O 3 ) reinforced AZ91D Magnesium Matrix Composites, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 63 (2023) 100-109.

Received: 14.09.2022 Accepted: 05.11.2022 Online first: 09.11.2022 Published: 01.01.2023

Copyright: © 2023 This is an open access article under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

I NTRODUCTION

he low-density alloys and its composites are in high demand due to their versatile properties offered at low weight. Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have shown promising characteristics to meet demand of aerospace and spacecraft application which highly demands high specific modulus and high specific strength. Besides, particulate reinforcements comprising carbide, oxide and nitride based ceramics have enhanced the range of applications of metal matrix composites. Commonly employed reinforcements are SiC, TiO 2 , TiC, ZrO 2 , SiO 2 , B 4 C, graphite, MoS 2 , etc. These developments have shown the path for further replacement of monolithic alloys in many engineering applications [1-5]. T

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