Effect of Soaking Time and Quenching Media on the Structure and Mechanical Properties of Aluminium Bronze (Cu-10%wt.Al)

Authors

  • C. A. Obi  Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Nnamdi Azxikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
  • E. E. Nnuka  Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Nnamdi Azxikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
  • K. C. Nnakwo  Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, Nigeria

Keywords:

Soaking Time, Quenching Media, Solutionizing Temperature, Properties

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to investigate the effect of soaking time and quenching media on the structure and mechanical properties of aluminium bronze (Cu-10%wt.Al). Sand casting method was adopted in casting the samples. Standard specimens were prepared from the as-cast and heat treated samples for tensile, hardness and impact strength tests as well as microstructural analysis according to standard. The samples were solutionized at temperature of 900oC for 30, 60 and 180mins and quenched in water, brine and SAE 40 respectively. The tensile, hardness and impact strength test were conducted using JPL tensile strength tester (Model: 130812), dynamic hardness tester and impact testing machine (U1820) respectively. The alloy microstructures were studied using an optical metallurgical microscope (Model: L2003A). Microstructural analysis result indicated coarse sparse distribution of ?+ ?2 precipitates in the as-cast specimen and presence of fine pearlite (? + ?2) in a matrix of ? dominance in the heat treated specimens. The presence of coarse intermetallic compounds (?`- phase) was revealed as the soaking time increased. The obtained results indicated that heat treatment significantly improved all the tested mechanical properties except the impact strength. Optimum ultimate tensile strength and hardness values of 710MPa and 513MPa respectively were recorded for the specimen solutionized at 900oC for 30 minutes and quenched in water and brine respectively. Among all the quenching media used, brine gave the best combination of mechanical properties.

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International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology

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Published

2017-04-30

Issue

Volume 3, Issue 2, March-April-2017

Section

Research Articles

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How to Cite

[1]
C. A. Obi, E. E. Nnuka, K. C. Nnakwo, " Effect of Soaking Time and Quenching Media on the Structure and Mechanical Properties of Aluminium Bronze (Cu-10%wt.Al) , International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology(IJSRSET), Print ISSN : 2395-1990, Online ISSN : 2394-4099, Volume 3, Issue 2, pp.311-317, March-April-2017.