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Spark Plasma Sintering of Graphene Nanoplatelets Reinforced Aluminium 6061 Alloy Composites

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Light Metals 2020

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

Abstract

Over the years, high performance lightweight aluminium matrix composites have, mainly due to their excellent mechanical properties , found wide applications in automobile and aerospace applications. In the present study, Graphene NanoPlatelets based reinforced aluminium alloy AA6061 composites have been prepared through spark plasma sintering with four different loadings, i.e. 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 3 wt%. Through property characterisation of the obtained composites, it was established that a higher content of nano reinforcement had a substantial effect on the resulting microstructure , as well as on the electrical conductivity that proved to increase due to uniform distribution of the graphene network around the grains. An increase in the hardness and compressive strength was also obtained. The associated strengthening mechanism is discussed. A 2-dimensional physical model based on the bridging effect of graphene nanoplatelets in a composite matrix is presented, and its correlation with experimental results is discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (Grant No. 213-53249-2EG2-102) provided under the PhD indigenous fellowship; Phase-II Batch-II, as well as the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway, for the use of their laboratory facilities for characterisation of all material properties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Mahmood Khan, Abdul Wadood & Wilayat Husain Syed

  2. Materials Division, Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Nilore, 45650, Pakistan

    Rafi Ud-Din

  3. Norsk Hydro, Karmøy Primary Production, Hydrovegen, 4265, Håvik, Norway

    Shahid Akhtar

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Mahmood Khan & Ragnhild Elizabeth Aune

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  1. Mahmood Khan
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  2. Rafi Ud-Din
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  3. Abdul Wadood
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  4. Wilayat Husain Syed
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  5. Shahid Akhtar
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  6. Ragnhild Elizabeth Aune
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Correspondence to Mahmood Khan .

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  1. Rio Tinto, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Alan Tomsett

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Khan, M., Ud-Din, R., Wadood, A., Syed, W.H., Akhtar, S., Aune, R.E. (2020). Spark Plasma Sintering of Graphene Nanoplatelets Reinforced Aluminium 6061 Alloy Composites. In: Tomsett, A. (eds) Light Metals 2020. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36408-3_44

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