Development of WC-Feal Composite by Stir Casting Method

International Journal of Engineering and Management Research e-ISSN: 2250-0758 | p-ISSN: 2394-6962
Volume- 9, Issue- 2, (April 2019)
www.ijemr.net https://doi.org/10.31033/ijemr.9.2.5
33 This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Development of WC-Feal Composite by Stir Casting Method
Rahul Verma1
and Rohit Srivastava2
1
M.Tech Student, Department of Production Engineering, S R Institute of Technology and Management Lucknow, INDIA
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, S R Institute of Technology and Management Lucknow, INDIA
1
Corresponding Author: rvermagv@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
In this paper author make an effort to develop a new
material for fulfill the need of present requirement. This
material is developed by the using of stir casting method. A
AMMC’s composite are developed to fulfill the need of present
requirements. This composite material is prepared by the use
of 3 metals. These metals are iron (Fe), aluminum (Al) and
tungsten carbide (WC).Thus this composite come under metal
matrix composite. This composite is WC – FeAl composite.
This is prepared by the use of stir casting method. The base
metals are iron and aluminum. These are having equal
quantity by weight. In this the sample is prepared by the
change the of percentage reinforcement. This is varying from
0 to 3%. A test is conduct to check their tensile strength as
well as compressive strength. By these test it is confirm that
with the increase the percentage of reinforcement in the
composite their tensile strength is decrease but their
compressive strength is increase.
Keywords-- Iron, Aluminum, Tungsten Carbide, Stir
Casting method, Mechanical Property
I. INTRODUCTION
A composite material is made up of two or more
materials which are combining in same or different
percentage by weight or by mass. These materials have
different mechanical as well as chemical property. The
composite material fulfills the need of present requirements.
Composite material has high strength to weight ratio. By
selecting a suitable combination of matrix and
reinforcement material, a new material can be made that
actually meets the requirements of a particular application.
Composite designs also provide flexibility because many of
them can be molded into complex shapes. Negative side is
often cost. Although the resulting product is more efficient,
raw materials are often expensive.(1)
The individual components remain separate and
distinct within the finished structure. The new material may
be preferred for many reasons: common examples include
materials which are stronger, lighter, or less expensive
when compared to traditional materials.
For example, reinforced concrete (made
of concrete and steel) has resistance to pressure and
to bending forces. Bullet-proof glass (made
of glass and plastic) is more resistant to impact Concrete
itself is a composite material, one of the oldest man-made
composites, used more than any other man-made material
in the world. Wood is a natural composite of cellulose
fibers in a matrix of lignin. The earliest man-
made composite materials were straw and mud combined
form bricks for building construction. polymerase in wide
use today, as is glass-reinforced plastic. The ordinary word
'composite' gives a slight indication of the vast range of
personal combinations involved in this class of material.
Figure 1 Relationships between classes of engineering materials

We have mentioned some more familiar one, but
figure 1.1 has given a simple idea for simplicity which is
available to the content scientist and his client, design
engineer. First of all, each group of materials - metal,
ceramic and polymer – is already some familiar materials
that can be described as composites. (2)
AMMC’s one of the most suitable composite
material that fulfills the need of present requirement.
Aluminum has low density. Due to this the AMMC’s
composite also have low density.
In the present research an iron aluminide
composite are prepare with the use of WC as reinforcement
in this composite. WC has high strength, greater hardness
value, and high melting point. In this composite aluminum
provide low density and tungsten carbide provides high
strength and hardness. Iron also use in this composite. This
composite is prepared by the use of stir casting method.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Gomez deals with analysis of boron carbide
aluminium matrix composites Boron carbide (B4C) is
obtained by solid-state processes (powder metallization and
extrusions) as the reinforcement of aluminum matrix
composites (AMCs). Two different reinforcements were
considered: B4C for the purpose of this study and for direct
comparison of results, SiC The aluminum alloy AA6061
was used as the matrix in all cases. Comparative analysis
between both SiC and B4C composites was focused on
mechanical and tribological properties and correlated to
microstructural features It concludes that with the volume
fraction of reinforcement, the hardness and strength for
composites increased, its maximum value reached 10%
B4C. Regarding tribology, composites showed increased
dynamic friction coefficient, but lower wear rate than
unrelated aluminum alloy. Applications for the automotive
industry as a break disk are predictive. [4]
Ravi Kant deals with the analysis aluminium
matrix composites. In this four Alloy are prepared by the
mixing of different reinforcement in the Iron
aluminide(FeAl). Sliding wear behavior of the Alloy is
tested. During the testing they find that Alloy-1 have low
strength and hardness because of the graphite present in the
Alloy-1. Alloy-2 and Alloy-3 exhibit comparable values of
strength and hardness but higher than those of Alloy-1
dueto the presence of hard ZrC and TiC carbides,
respectively. Lower volume fraction of carbides results in
lower strength and hardness in Alloy-2 compared with
Alloy-3. Alloy-4, which has the highest carbon (and
carbide) content, exhibited the highest values of hardness
and strength. Thus strength of these Alloys is determined by
the volume fraction and hardness of carbides present. [5]
Ryoichi Furushima and KiyotakaKatouhas
studies on the wear behavior of FeAl composite which is
sintered by PCS technique (pulse current sintering) and
vacuum sintering technique. The use of pulse current
sintering techniques enables to density the WC-FeAl
composite at a temperature lower than that of FeAl liquid
phase formation. That difference of sintering temperature
results in crucial difference of the microstructure of the
composites. Whereas some WC grain growth and huge
FeAl phases are observed from the sample of vacuum
sintering technique. As a result, superior mechanical
properties such as Vickers hardness and bending strength
are obtained from the samples of the pulse current sintering
technique in the WC-FeAl system. [6]
M ADrewrymake a wind turbine by using the
composite material. They were always attended, sometimes
inhabited and, largely, manually controlled. They were
integrated within the community, designed for frequent
replacement of certain components and efficiency was of
little importance. In this they used NDT testing methods to
examine rotor blades. The analysis of damage in most
towers shows that it occurs under a wind of medium
intensity, and the reason is fatigue failures. In this study, a
wireless system using a tiny oscillation circuit for detecting
delamination of carbon/epoxy composites is proposed. [7]
III. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
For the preparation of composite use aluminum
plate, iron powder and tungsten carbide. The plate of
aluminum plate (Aluminum 6063- T6) obtained from
“vijayprakashgupta and sons New Delhi”, iron powder
obtained from Gangotri Inorganic Pvt. Ltd Ahmedabad
Gujarat India and WC particles from UNITED WOLFRAM
Surat Gujarat India.
Firstly the aluminum plate is cut into small size.to
be easily placed in crucible for melting. The crucible was
placed in the electric furnace for melting the aluminum. So
after two hours the temperature inside the furnace reached
750℃, which was shown on the control panel display and
measured by thermocouple. At this 750℃ temperature, the
matrix material was melted.
After the melting of aluminum in the furnace mix
iron powder equal to the weight of aluminum and then
heated. After 2 hours its temperature are reaches upto
1550℃which was shown on control panel display.
When the iron and aluminum is melt and mixed.
Then poured tungsten carbide (5μm) as reinforcement in the
crucible. A mechanical stirrer is use to mixed this material
properly. In the mixing process, the first stimulant was
molten and the motor was turned on. After this, the
reinforcement was sprinkled in the molten matrix.The
mixture of matrix and reinforcements were stirred by
mechanical stirrer at 1550℃temperature, at 400 rpm, for 10
minutes.

Fig 2 Complete stir casting setup
After then minute the molten metal ate poured into
the sand mold which are already prepared. The casting of
these metals is showed in to the size of specimen for the
testing of strength in tensile and makes another sample for
the testing of compressive strength.
Similar process is repeated with change the
percentage of reinforcement. And make other sample for
testing. The percentage of reinforcement is varying from
0%, 1%, 2%, and 3%.
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Tensile Testing: - Tensile testing is done on the
on UTM.Tensile testing is used to provide information that
will be used in design calculations or to demonstrate that
the material complies with the requirements of appropriate
specifications - so it can be either quantitative or qualitative
test. Tensile strength of the specimen is measured by tensile
testing. In this research tensile testing is carried out on
universal testing machine.
The test is done by applying the continuous
growing uni-axial load by holding the ends of the
standardized test piece, properly prepared in a tensile test
machine and then on failure. As per ASTM standard the
size of test piece is based on the following relation:-
L0 = k√A
Where
L0 = Original gauge length, the portion of sample with
minimum diameter (m)
k = constant (value of k varies from 5 to 6, we take it 5.65)
A0 = Original area of cross-section at gauge length (m2
)
In present experiment the tensile test are conducted
on aluminium MMCs. Following formulas are used.
σ = P/A0
e = (Lf-L0)/L0 = (A0 – Af)/A0
σu = maximum load /cross-sectional area
Table 1 Tensile strength of specimen at different % of Reinforcement
S No. Specimen composition (% weight) Tensile strength (MPa)
Al Fe WC Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Average
1. 50 50 0 315 317 320 317
2. 49.5 49.5 1 302 307 311 307
3. 49 49 2 295 298 301 298
4. 48.5 48.5 3 285 289 293 289

Fig.5.2 Tensile strength of specimen at different % of Reinforcement
Compressive Testing: - Compressive strength of
the specimen is measured by Compressive testing.
Compressive strength test, mechanical test measuring the
maximum amount of compressive load a material can bear
before fracturing. The test piece, usually in the form of a
cube, prism, or cylinder, is compressed between the platens
of a compression-testing machine by a gradually applied
load. In this research Compressive testing is carried out on
universal testing machine.
In present study the compressive test are
conducted on aluminium MMCs. Following formulas are
used.
σ = P/A0
e = (Lf-L0)/L0 = (A0 – Af)/A0
σu = maximum load /cross-sectional area
Table 2 Compressive strength of specimen at different % of Reinforcement
S No. Specimen composition (% weight) Compressive Strength (MPa)
Al Fe WC Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Average
1. 50 50 0 180 190 197 189
2. 49.5 49.5 1 220 229 238 229
3. 49 49 2 290 303 317 303
4. 48.5 48.5 3 400 409 417 409
260
270
280
290
300
310
320
330
Test 1 Test 2 Test 3
TensileStrength(Mpa)
Tensile Strength V/S Rainforcement
FeAl+0
%WC
FeAl+1
%WC
FeAl+2
%WC
FeAl+3
%WC

Fig.5.3 Compressive strength of specimen at different % of Reinforcement
In alloy 1 when no reinforcement added in base
material (FeAl) their tensile strength is 317 Mpa but in
alloy 2 when the percentage of reinforcement reaches 1%
their tensile strength decrease reaches at 307 MPa. In alloy
3 percentage of reinforcement is 2 % their tensile strength
decrease at 298 mpa. And in alloy 4 at 3% of reinforcement
added in base metal their tensile strength reaches at 289
mpa.
In alloy 1 when no reinforcement added in base
material (FeAl) their compressive strength is 189 Mpa but
in alloy 2 when the percentage of reinforcement reaches 1%
their compressive strength increase, reaches at 229 MPa. In
alloy 3 percentage of reinforcement is 2 % their tensile
strength decrease at 303 mpa. And in alloy 4 at 3% of
reinforcement added in base metal their compressive
strength reaches at 409 mpa.
V. CONCLUSION
From all this result it is clearly specify that at the
increase of reinforcement in the base material its tensile
strength decrease slowly but compressive strength increase
rapidly.
 WC- FeAl composite was successfully developed
by stir casting method.
 On the basis of above result it is clearly specify
that at 3 % of reinforcement compressive strength
reaches at 409 mpa. But on other hand at 3 % of
reinforcement tensile strength reaches at 289 mpa.
 Due to high compressive strength it is suitable to
use for the manufacturing of machine base and can
be replaced cast iron.
 It is a ductile material due to presence of iron and
steel and its tensile strength in not very less so it is
useful as a shock absorbing material.
 AMMC’s has low density and tungsten carbide has
high strength and melting point. Due to this such
material has combine property of both materials.
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composite materials. Cambridge University Press.
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[4] L. Gómez, D. Busquets-Mataix, & V. Amigó. (2009).
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Test 1 Test 2 Test 3
CompressiveStrength(Mpa)
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%WC
FeAl+1
%WC
FeAl+2
%WC
FeAl+3
%WC

FeAl-based composites containing in-situ carbides Indian
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