Investigation of Al-Mg based composite incorporated with MoS 2 through powder metallurgy

In this study, powder metallurgy process has been utilized to produce the composite materials. Pure aluminium (Al) has been selected as the matrix material for the preparation of composite materials. 4% of magnesium (Mg) has been added as the alloying element, whilst molybdenum disulphide (MoS 2 ) is reinforced with a varying wt.% (2, 4 & 6). The intent of this work is, to evaluate some basic mechanical properties (density, microhardness, compression strength and toughness), surface degradation properties (corrosion and wear), and electrical conductivity of the fabricated composite materials. Moreover, SEM mapping and EDAX analysis have been conducted to confirm the presence of reinforcement particles with homogenous distribution in the matrix material and to do the fractographic study of the compressive strength tested samples. The density of the composite material Al-4% Mg-6%MoS 2 has been increased compared to the density of pure Al material. Micro Vickers hardness test shows that Al-4% Mg-6%MoS 2 composite has 32.86% more hardness as compared to that of pure Al material. Compressive strength of the composite material with the higher wt.% of MoS 2 is found to be 181.81 N/mm 2 , while Al material has only 167.52 N/mm 2 . The buckling formation during the compression test is avoided in the composite material owing to the existence of MoS 2 particulates. The wear loss of composite materials is found low as compared with the unreinforced Al material, owing to the solid lubricant property of MoS 2 particles, and hence, coefficient of friction (COF) is also lessened with the increase in the MoS 2 wt.%. Also, the MoS 2 reinforced materials show good resistance to corrosion due to the presence of molybdenum, which acts as a consistent layer obstacle to prevent the surface from further degradation.