Microstructure, Mechanical Behavior, and Tensile Fractography of Si3N4-Reinforced Al2219 Alloy Composites Synthesized by Squeeze Casting Method.

In this study, Al2219 composites with varying wt.% of Si₃N₄ particles using a combination of stir casting and squeeze casting techniques have been explored. Al2219 alloy with 3, 6, and 9 wt.% of Si₃N₄ composites was examined for the microstructures through SEM analysis, which revealed an even dissemination of the reinforcement particles within the base matrix. Remarkably, did not observe any issues such as particle agglomeration, residual porosity, or other casting-related problems. The inclusion of ceramic particles in the squeezed composites led to significant increments in hardness, tensile and yield strength, and Izod impact strength when compared to the base Al2219 matrix alloy. Notably, during compression testing, observed a considerable increase in compressive strengths, albeit at the expense of reduced failure strain, as the concentration of hard ceramic reinforcement particles increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]