Preparing Composite Materials from Commercially Pure Aluminum Scrap and Reinforced with Iraqi Sand

Abstract

This paper deals with reusing commercially pure aluminum scrap 1100 by converting it to
aluminum-based composite reinforced material by using Iraqi silica sand. The sand is prepared
and added in weight percentage of 1% and 2%. It is grain size ranges between 50 -75 um.
Wettability of the mixture was increased by adding 2gm of pure magnesium. A special electric
mixer was used to disperse silica sand grains to support aluminum scrap melt (matrix).
Then the composite pieces were cut to samples suitable for tension, compression,
hardness, wear, impact, corrosion resistance (in sea water) and microstructure inspection. The
tests have shown that the composite has more resistance to tension, compression, hardness,
and wear than the base alloy. This is because sand particles are dispersed uniformly (uniformly
distributed throughout the cast) which hinder the movement of the dislocations slip plane. On
the other hand, the resistance to impact and corrosion (in sea water for one month) decreased
slightly. In wear resistance test, pin-on-desk was used where load, sliding speed, and slide
distance were kept constant. Microstructure inspection on the base alloy and the composite
materials were made before and after corrosion for comparison between them.