Mechanical Characterization of AA6061/Groundnut Shell Powder Matrix Composite

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Covenant University Ota, Lagos state, Nigeria
² Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Bells University of Technology, P.M.B 1015, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg Johannesburg – 2006, South Africa

^* Corresponding author E-mail address:nduka.udoye@covenantuniversity.edu.ng,

Abstract

The paper presents a study on the possibility of reinforcing aluminium alloy 6061 with groundnut shell powder (GSP), to generate an eco-friendly and economical metal matrix composite (MMC) with a superior mechanical and corrosion resistant properties. The mixing of composites was done through stir casting technique at different weight percentages of GSP of 2%, 4% 6%, and 8%. The samples were taken through a form of testing comprising hardness, impact, tensile, flexural, fracture toughness, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The findings show that the mechanical properties like hardness, tensile strength, and flexural strength increased with the increase in GSP content till 6 percent and then started to decrease with the increase in the content because of the agglomeration of particles and porosity. The best performance was registered in the 6% GSP sample where the higher hardness (65.97 BHN), tensile strength (357.44 MPa), and flexural stress (2890.35 MPa) are realized. With SEM analysis, it was found that the grain was refined and dispersed well through to 6 % GSP whereas the XRD showed formation of a reinforcing phase such as MgO within the matrix. The study shows that GSP could be used as reinforcement of aluminium alloys with enhanced mechanical and structural properties.