Experimental analysis on surface hardness of AA5083 with SiC/eggshell powder reinforced novel metal matrix composite

This experimental study aims to relate the hardness strength of the as cast aluminium alloy AA5083 and the metal matrix composite AA5083 reinforced with eggshell powder and silicon carbide nanoparticles. Composites were produced in three groups using the stir-casting method. The as cast aluminium alloy AA5083 having 20 sample specimens were used as the control group. The aluminium alloy AA5083 metal matrix reinforced with 10% carbonized eggshell powder (ESP) and 2% & 4% silicon carbide nanoparticle each having 20 sample specimens were used as the two experimental groups. The ASTM E10-15 standard was followed for the brinell hardness testing specimen. The G-Power used for determining sample size is 80%. The as cast AA5083 shows a mean surface hardness of 57.06 BHN. The metal matrix composites AA5083+10%ESP+2%SiC and AA5083+10%ESP+4%SiC were measured with mean surface hardness of 73.35 BHN and 82.85 BHN respectively. Within the limits of the study and the results obtained from the t-test, the hardness of the AA5083+10%ESP+4%SiC metal matrix composite shows significant increase by 45% compared with the as cast aluminium alloy AA5083.