Experimental and FEM Analysis on the Mechanical Properties of Al-8011 Alloy Reinforced with Fly-Ash and E-Glass Fibers

The objective of the current study is to investigate the effect of E-glass fibers and fly ash reinforcements on the mechanical properties of Al-8011 hybrid composites. The Al-8011 alloy is reinforced with E-glass fibers and fly ash particulates by using stir casting technique. The metal matrix composites with different composition of E-glass fibers (weight percentage, %) and constant fly-ash particulates (weight %) were prepared. The tensile, compression and hardness behaviour of the composite were investigated experimentally. Maximum tensile and compression strength is observed for Al-8011+6 % fly ash+5 %+E-glass fiber composite. Improvement in hardness was observed with increasing percentage of E-glass fiber. Besides, tensile and compressive behaviour were analytically analysed using ANSYS Workbench 15.0. The experimental results were found to be in good accordance with the analytical results. An average error percentage of 4.5 and 6.5 % was found when experimental and analytical results were compared for both tensile and compression tests. The fracture surfaces of the tensile and compression specimens were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM).