Effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties of particulate reinforced Al6061 composites

Mechanical tests were carried out to study the behavior of albite reinforced Al 6061 matrix composite produced through the liquid vortex method and heat treated to T6 treatment. The matrix material Al 6061 was also tested as a control material for comparison. The hardness, ultimate tensile strength (UTS), compression strength, and Young's modulus were found to be higher than those of the control alloy. The reinforcement noticeably enhances the dislocation density in the matrix upon cooling from the solutionizing temperature. The dislocations that serve as heterogeneous nucleation sites for strengthening precipitates during subsequent aging treatments, after the precipitation kinetics of the matrix of the composite, were compared to the control alloy. A higher density of dislocations and a higher density of intermediate precipitates were observed. There was a marginal improvement of tensile strength, compression, and hardness with aging.