Investigation the Effect of TiC on Some Properties of ZA-27 Alloy Prepared By Powder Metallurgy Method

The existing work is dedicated toward the manufacture of ZA-27/TiC as composites material via powder metallurgy. A mixture of Zn and Al with 63 and 27 wt%, respectively, is ball milled for 4 hrs at 145 rpm. Then, samples with disk-like shapes were made through pressing under 600 MPa and afterward sintered at 336 °C for 90 minutes in an electric furnace in argon gas. Other three groups from the above Zn and Al mixture ratio were prepared but with the addition of 3, 6, and 9 wt% TiC particles independently. The group's samples were prepared at the same conditions above. Hardness, density, and porosity microstructure observations, including optical and SEM-Mapping techniques were utilized to validate the effect of TiC particle additions with the listed above contents on the prepared ZA-27 alloy properties. The practical density of the prepared ZA-27 alloy is decreased basically owing to the used powder metallurgy route and with a lesser degree due to TiC addition. In contrast, the porosity is increased. But the hardness of the ZA-27 alloy is improved when TiC was added, and it was increased from 49.4 to 66 VHN with 0 to 9 wt% TiC addition. The optical microscope and SENM-Mapping facilities explained the distribution of co-existing Zn, Al, and TiC particles in the microstructures of the tested samples to improve the properties of ZA alloy.

Keywords:
NNCs; TiC particles; Hardness; Particulate strengthening; PM