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Properties Analysis of waste activated carbon water filter cartridge particulate reinforced metal matrix composite
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5435–5444
www.materialstoday.com/proceedings
6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016)
Properties Analysis of waste activated carbon water filter cartridge particulate reinforced metal matrix composite R.S. Rana1, Siddarth Patel2, Saraswati Rana3 and Rajesh Purohit4 Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering MANIT Bhopal India Research scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MANIT Bhopal India 3Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, RKDF University Bhopal India 4Associate professor department of Mechanical Engineering MANIT Bhopal India
1
2
Abstract Metal matrix composites are nowadays under serious considerations for many researchers because of its unique properties and reliability for the different applications. Also, the researchers are trying out to make best possible composite with desirable properties and low cost. In today’s scenario, there are different findings to make composites with low cost reinforcement. One of these can be done by the effective utilisation of the waste materials to make composites. Activated carbon is one of the valuable materials which is used in the drinking water filtration process and could be gone into the waste after usage for sometimes. So, this Activated carbon can be utilised as reinforcement, and great innovative search to make composites. In experimental procedure two composites with different compositions (2% activated carbon/LM24 and 4% activated carbon/LM24) and pure LM24 Aluminium alloy were taken. By the experimental study it is found that the hardness increases with increase in the % composition of the activated carbon. Impact strength and compressive strength decreases with the increase of activated carbon by weight percentage in the composite. It is found that these composites can be used for the applications where the hardness is the main criteria. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016). Keywords:Activated carbons, LM24 Aluminium alloy, water filter cartridge, stir casting process, mechanical properties;
* Corresponding author. Tel:+91-8871383977 E-mail address: [email protected];
2214-7853© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016).
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1. Introduction Composite is the material having two or more distinct phases like matrix phase and reinforcing phase and have bulk properties notably different either of the constituents present in the matrix material. Matrix kept the reinforcement to produce desired shape and the reinforcement helps to improve the overall mechanical properties of the matrix. When placed properly, the new combined material shows better strength than each of the individual material. Composite material consists of one or more discontinuous phases engrafted in a continuous phase. The discontinuous phase is normally stronger and harder than the continuous phase and is called the ‘reinforcement material’, while the continuous phase is termed as the ‘matrix material’.Aside from the nature of the factor materials, the geometry of the reinforce(shape, size and distribution) acts upon the property of composite to a great extent. Concentration, usually measured as volume or weight percentage, determines the contribution of a single material to the overall properties of the composite material. Not only the single most important parameter determining the properties of the composite material, but also an easy control manufacturing variable used to change its properties. The orientation of the reinforcement affects the isotropy of the system. The composites exhibit better properties as compared to the regular alloy in various applications because they have stiffness, high specific strength and good wear resistance. Because of having good properties and light weight they have vast applications in automobile, aerospace & transportation industry, marine industry and in defence. Composites play a vital role in our day to day life, for example wood, bones, reinforced concrete cement, GFRP etc. Lots of objects in our everyday routine are mostly composed of composites. With the growth of aluminium within the welding fabrication industry, and its adoption as an excellent choice to steel for many applications, there are increasing requirements for those implied with developing aluminium applications to become more adaptable with this group of materials. Aluminium alloys can be classified into a number of groups based on the particular material’s characteristics such as its ability to respond to mechanical and thermal treatment and the primary alloying element added to the aluminium alloy. One of the important alloys is LM24 which is often in the consideration of the researchers nowadays.LM24 Aluminium alloy is essentially a pressure die casting alloy, for which it has excellent casting characteristics and is generally a slight simpler to die cast that the high Silicon containing alloys. Die castings in LM24 are suitable for most engineering projects and have an advantage over an alloy such as LM6 when maximum mechanical properties are required. In practice LM6 is better over LM24 only for die castings in which a high resistance to corrosion is the main requirement. LM24 has poor weld ability and braze ability. Castings in LM24 are not usually heat treated. It is used for vacuum floor polishers, cleaners, motor frames and housings. For the vast majority of die castings, the alloys LM2 and LM24 are equally suitable. So LM24 should become one of the important matrix materials which could be used by the researchers to make composites. In today’s scenario one of the major problems is the wastage of the valuable materials in the form of scrap or other forms. To reduce these waste, recycle or some effective usage of these materials should be done. One of the wastage is water filter cartridge which is used for the filtration of drinking water, and these cartridges are advised to be changed after 12 months of usage. After the replacement of the cartridges, old cartridges gone in the waste with having no use. These cartridges contain one of the valuable material known as the activated carbon. With knowing that this activated carbon will go in the waste, either of this it can be used in making composites. Now the question arises that what is activated carbon? And why we use it as reinforcement? For its low cost and desirable properties. Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is a form of carbon treated to have small, low volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions. Because of its high degree of micro porosity, only one gram of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 1,300 m2, as determine by the gas adsorption. An activation level sufficient for useful application may be attained individually from high surface area; However, chemical treatment often enhances adsorption properties. Activated carbon is generally derived from charcoal and seldom utilized as bio char. Those derived from coke and coal is referred as activated coke and activated coal respectively. Due to its high valuable properties, it is used as reinforcement material with LM24 Aluminium alloy as matrix material to make composite in this experimental process.
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2. Material and Methods: 2.1. LM24 Aluminium Alloy: LM24 (Al-Si8Cu3.5) was used as matrix in the synthesis of composite. Aluminium alloy was taken in the form of square rod and then cut into smaller pieces with the help of grinding cutter machine in order to keep the alloy inside the crucible properly. With particle addition to light metals like aluminium, the hardness, the Young’s modulus, the yield strength, the tensile strength and the wear resistance increase and the thermal expansion coefficient decreases Composition of matrix alloy was analyzed and the chemical composition of the matrix alloy is given in table 1: Table.1 Chemical Composition of LM24 Alloying Element
% Composition
Copper
3-4
Magnesium
3 max
Silicon
7.5-9.5
Iron
1.3 max
Manganese
0.5 max
Nickel Zinc
0.5 max 3 max
Lead
0.3 max
Tin
0.2 max
Titanium
0.2 max
LM24 is essentially a pressure die casting alloy, for which it has excellent casting characteristics and is generally a little simpler to die cast than the higher Silicon containing alloys. Die castings in LM24 are suitable for most engineering applications and have an advantage over an alloy such as LM6 when maximum mechanical properties are required.The Major Alloying Element in this alloy is silicon i.e. (around 8 %). It is primarily responsible for so called good cast ability (high fluidity, low shrinkage),low density(2.34g/cm3)which may be advantage in reducing total weight of cast component and has very low solubility in Aluminium therefore precipitates as virtually pure Si which is hard and improve the abrasion resistance. Si reduces thermal expansion coefficient of Al-Si alloys. Machinability is poor with addition of silicon in Aluminium. It has been classified as a hypoeutectic alloy as silicon is less than 12% weight and Aluminium alloy having silicon content falling in this range displays good wear resistant characteristic. The presence of copper is around (3%) which affects the strength and hardness of aluminium casting alloys, both heat treated and not heat treated and at both ambient and elevated service temperature. It also improves the machinability of alloys by increasing matrix hardness, On the down side, copper generally it reduces the corrosion resistance of aluminium and in certain alloys and tempers, it increases stress corrosion susceptibility.Magnesium (Mg). Provides substantial strengthening and improvement of the work-hardening characteristics of Aluminium. It can impart good corrosion resistance and weld ability or extremely high Strength. Silicon combines with magnesium to form the hardening phase Mg2Si that provides the strengthening.Literature review of various MMCsand shows that LM24 in spite of its good wear resistance and thermal properties LM24 still haven’t been used in many areas. Thus, increasing a scope to find some new applications for this material.
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2.2. Activated carbon: Activated carbon is the material which works via a process called adsorption, whereas pollutant molecules in the fluid trapped and treated inside the pore structure of the carbon substrate. Carbon filtering is commonly used for, air purifiers, water purification and industrial gas processing, for example the removal of hydrogen sulphide and siloxanesfrom biogas. Also, used in another application such as purification of sugarcane, respirator masks and in the recovery of precious metals, mainly gold. It is also used in the filters of cigarette.Active charcoal carbon filters are most efficient for removing chlorine, volatile organic compounds, sediments, taste and odour from water. They are not effective of removing salts, minerals and dissolved inorganic compounds. Activated carbon, also called as activated coal, activated charcoal, it is a form of carbon that can be processed and have low-volume, small pores that increase the surface area available for chemical reactions or adsorption. Due to its high degree of micro porosity, only one gram of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 500 m2, as determined by gas adsorption. Activation level is adequate for useful application may be attained solely from high surface area; however, further chemical treatment often increases adsorption properties. [5] Reinforcement material used in this project for the synthesis of composite is activated carbon which is taken from the waste water filter cartridge. By using this as reinforcement not only the cost reduces but also there will be an effective utilisation of waste. So, here the criteria are getting a desired composite which has low cost as well as desired mechanical properties as shown in the below Table 2 and Fig 1. Table.2. Chemical composition of Activated carbon Sulphide Compounds Acid soluble substance Sulphated Ash Water extractable substances Alcohol soluble substances Cynogen compounds Arsenic Lead Zinc
Some% Not more than 3% Not more than 5% Not more than 4% Not more than 0.5% Some% Not more than 3mg/kg Not more than 5mg/kg Not more than 25mg/kg
Figure.1. Waste water Filter Cartridge
2.3. Cutting and crushing of Activated carbon: Firstly, waste filter cartridge is taken and then it is cut off, so that the granular activated carbon which is in the cylindrical form is obtained. After that these cylindrical activated carbon is shredded in to powdered form. Sufficient crushing and hammering should be done to achieve somewhat powder form.Also the matrix material i.e. LM24 Aluminium alloy is cut into small pieces from the rectangular bar with the help of Grinder cutter.
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2.4. Ball Milling of the powdered activated carbon: Now the next task is that, conversion of activated carbon into nano form. It can be converted into powdered form by using ball milling process. It is required to achieve nano form reinforcement particles because of the great bonding between the matrix materials.In this process weight of balls used is about 10 times of that of the material which is used for crushing. Before crushing, activated carbon is mixed with the stearic acid which is about 1% of the powdered material. It should be done about 8 to 10 hours in order to convert it completely in to fine powdered form. After that the fine powder is kept out and sieve, so that the fine nano particles is obtained. [6] 2.5. Stir Casting: Stir casting is a liquid metallurgy method of composite material fabrication, in which a dispersed phase like ceramic particles, short fibers are mixed with a molten matrix metal by means of a mechanical stirring. The stir casting arrangements is shown in figure 2. It is effectively mixing the reinforcement material with the matrix material (i.e. Al alloy) and does not damage the reinforcements while stirring. [2]
Figure.2.Stir casting setup
2.6. Composite Fabrication Procedure: In this project, stir casting arrangement that was used is shown in Figure. It consisted of a resistance Muffle Furnace, stirrer assembly and probe assembly to manufacture the composite. Firstly, matrix material that is LM24 Aluminium alloy is cut into small pieces, so that it can be comfortably inserted in the crucible. These small pieces alloy is weighted according to the requirement of samples of same composition. After that, required amount of alloy is kept in the crucible. Along with the crucible, it is kept in the heating furnance of stir casting and allows it to heat for some time until it is melted.When alloy comes in molten form then parallelly reinforcement material that is activated carbon is preheated at about 400oC for 15 minutes, along with mould.After the preheating of the activated carbon, it is allowed to mix with the molten LM24 Alloy externally or with help of spoon, it may be better if there be an injector to flow the particle in to the molten alloy.Mixing of activated carbon and molten alloy is done with the help of mechanical stirrer. This stirrer is rotated at 400 rpm for about 15 minutes. For the proper mixing, further Mg will be added, it is added about 1% of the total weight percentage alloy.When the mixing of activated carbon with the LM24 Aluminium alloy is completed, then it is allowed to pour in to the preheated mould. And the mould is kept
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for sometimes until complete solidification. After the solidification when the mould is cooled, it is open to collect the composite sample. 2.7. Composite Material composition: The composite material composition was constructed based on the literature study and the experimental works done. This project work focused on the LM24 aluminium alloy as a matrix material and the reinforcements as activated carbon from the waste water filter cartridge. According to the previous literature survey and experimental work we have shown the composite materials samples at various wt%. The composite material composition is shown in the table.3. Table.3. composition of composite materials Sample
Aluminium alloy (wt %)
Activated carbon (wt%)
1
100
0
2
98
2
3
96
4
3. Results and discussions: Mechanical properties testing: 3.1. Hardness Test: Hardness is the mechanical property of the material which is the ability to resist indentation and abrasion.For this purpose, here Rockwell Testing machine is used. Hardness was calculated by using Hardness Testing Machine Model- TRSN-D/TRSNT-D as shown in figure 3. Is used for the hardness measurement. Rockwell cum Superficial test is an indentation hardness test using a verified machine to force a diamond spheroconical indenter or hard steel ball indenter under specified condition into the surface of the material under test. A Hardness Testing Machine Model- TRSN-D/TRSNT-D The surface being tested generally requires a metallographic finish and it was done with the help of 400, 600 800 and 1000 grit size emery paper. For measuring hardness of Al alloy, B scale is used. The specification of B scale is that the load applied on the smooth surface is 100 Newton and the indenter ball diameter is 1/16 inch is used. The dwell time was 7 seconds for each sample. The total five reading is taken from the different point on the sample and average is calculated. The result of hardness test for LM24 MMCs with weight % variation of reinforcement activated carbon as shown in the below Fig 3 and Table 4.
Figure.3. Graph showing increasing hardness of composite by increasing % composition of activated carbon
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Table. 4. Rockwell Hardness values at different compositions of the composite.
Composite
Rockwell hardness values st
nd
1
2
Reading Reading
rd
3
Reading
4th
th
5
Reading Reading
Average Value
Pure LM24
39.60
40.20
41.30
40.60
41.30
40.60
LM24+ 2% A.C
52.66
51.43
48.43
59.63
48.23
52.076
LM24+ 4% A.C
60.96
51.60
54.30
60.16
61.50
57.704
It has been seen that the increase in activated carbon content up to 2% has increased the hardness of the composite by 28.26%.Also, activated carbon content up to 4% increases hardness of the composite by 42.12 percent. 3.2. Compression Test: Compression strength of a material is the ability or capacity to withstand compressive force up to the fracture. This compression test is done by using the Universal Testing Machine (UTM). Two samples are under testing of composition 2% activated carbon/LM24 and 4% activated carbon/LM24. Sample dimensions of 2% activated carbon sample have 16mm diameter and 24mm length whereas dimensions of the 4% activated carbon/LM24 sample have 20mm diameter and 30mm length. Compression results of the given sample are below the following table 5, straining speed for the UTM is fixed at 15mm/min and as shown in the below Fig 4 and Fig 5.
Figure.4. Specimens before and after compression
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Figure.5. Graph for compressive test with % composition of activated carbon Table.5. Compressive strength of different composition % composition of activated carbon 0 2 4
compressive strength (Mpa) 610 567 424
As the percentage of the activated carbon increases compressive strength of the composite decreases.For the 2% activated carbon sample compressive strength decreases by 7% approximately from the pure LM24 sample. For the 4% activated carbon sample compressive strength decreases by 30.49% approximately from the pure LM24 sample as shown in the above Table 5 and in the below Table 6. 3.3. Impact Test: Impact test is used to determine the impact energy absorbing capacity per unit volume of the specimen. This absorbed energy is a measure of a given material's toughness. It is done with the impact testing machine of model FIT-300 D. in this machine maximum impact energy of the pendulum were 300 Joules. The impact testing was performed as per ASTM a 370. The dimensions of the specimens were 55 + 0/-2.5 length, 10 ± 0.075 mm width and depth having 2 mm V-notch at the centre. Two readings were taken, and average values were reported. Table.6. Variation in impact strength of the composite with increase in activated carbon Material Pure LM24
Impact Strength(Joule) 3.4
LM24+ 2% A.C 2.8 LM24+ 2% A.C 1.94 __________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Figure.6. Graph of Impact strength (joule) with % composition of activated carbon
There will be decrease in the impact strength value as the percentage composition of the activated carbon increases; it is due to the fact that when the reinforcement that is activated carbon increases it makes composite brittle, by making it hard.As the composite becomes brittle, its energy absorbing capacity per unit volume decreases and hence the composite with higher composition of activated carbon have low value of toughness as shown in above Fig 6. 4. Conclusion
Aluminium Metal matrix composite (LM24 Aluminium alloy+ activated carbon) using different compositions of activated carbon i.e. 2% and 4% by weight percentage and pure alloy has been successfully fabricated by stir casting technique. Hardness of the composite increases by increasing the activated carbon. Hardness of the composite increases by 28.26% for the 2% activated carbon and increases by 42.12% for the 4% activated carbon from the pure LM24 Aluminium alloy. Impact strength of the composite decreases by increasing the activated carbon by weight percentage. Its value decreases by 17.64% for 2% composition and 42.94% for 4% composition from the unreinforced alloy. As the percentage of the activated carbon increases, compressive strength of the composite decreases. Best conclusion can be made that it can be used for the applications where hardness is the main criteria.
References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
Prabu, S. Balasivanandha, et al. Journal of Materials Processing Technology 171.2 (2006): 268-273. Hashim, J., L. Looney, and M. S. J. Hashmi. Journal of Materials Processing Technology 92 (1999): 1-7. Arena, Noemi, Jacquetta Lee, and Roland Clift. Journal of Cleaner Production 125 (2016): 68-77. Gopalakrishnan, S., and N. Murugan. Composites Part B: Engineering 43.2 (2012): 302-308. Dejang, Nuchjira, Onpailin Somprasit, and Sirinuch Chindaruksa. Energy Procedia 79 (2015): 727-732. Ashwath, P., and M. Anthony Xavior. Procedia Engineering 97 (2014): 1027-1032. Mamun, A. A., et al. Arabian Journal of Chemistry (2013). Ravi, B., B. Balu Naik, and J. Udaya Prakash. Materials Today: Proceedings 2.4 (2015): 2984-2990. Koli, Dinesh Kumar, Geeta Agnihotri, and Rajesh Purohit. Materials Today: Proceedings 2.4 (2015): 3032-3041. Verma, Ajay Singh, and Narender Mohan Suri. Materials Today: Proceedings 2.4 (2015): 2840-2851. Sarada, B. N., PL Srinivasa Murthy, and G. Ugrasen. Materials Today: Proceedings 2.4 (2015): 2878-2885. Bhandare, Rajeshkumar Gangaram, and Parshuram M. Sonawane. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology, ISSN (2013): 2249-8958. He, Jian, et al. Cement and Concrete Composites 37 (2013): 108-118. Prasad, Ch VM, and K. Mallikarjuna Rao. IJSEAT 4.4 (2016): 189-192. Senthil Kumar, B. R., M. Thiagarajan, and K. Chandrasekaran. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 2016 (2016). Patel, Kaushal R. Diss. Ganpat University, 2015. Hashim, Jasmi.Diss. Dublin City University, 1999.
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Kathiresan, M., and T. Sornakumar. Journal of minerals and materials characterization and engineering9.01 (2010): 79. Miranda, Alberto, et al. Materials Science Forum. Vol. 765. Trans Tech Publications, 2013. Muley, Aniruddha V., S. Aravindan, and I. P. Singh. Manufacturing Review 2 (2015): 15. Surappa, M. K. Sadhana 28.1-2 (2003): 319-334. Pai, B. C., et al. Journal of materials science 30.8 (1995): 1903-1911. Singh, Ajay, et al. Int J Adv Engg Tech 4.3 (2013): 26-29. Fang, X., et al. Materials Science and Engineering: A 445 (2007): 65-72. J.Q. Jiang, R.S. Tan and A.B. Ma,, Mater. Sci. and Tech., 12 (1996) 483-488. R.S.Rana , Rajesh purohit , S Das, International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications 6, (2012) 1-7.
ScienceDirect Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5435–5444
www.materialstoday.com/proceedings
6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016)
Properties Analysis of waste activated carbon water filter cartridge particulate reinforced metal matrix composite R.S. Rana1, Siddarth Patel2, Saraswati Rana3 and Rajesh Purohit4 Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering MANIT Bhopal India Research scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MANIT Bhopal India 3Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, RKDF University Bhopal India 4Associate professor department of Mechanical Engineering MANIT Bhopal India
1
2
Abstract Metal matrix composites are nowadays under serious considerations for many researchers because of its unique properties and reliability for the different applications. Also, the researchers are trying out to make best possible composite with desirable properties and low cost. In today’s scenario, there are different findings to make composites with low cost reinforcement. One of these can be done by the effective utilisation of the waste materials to make composites. Activated carbon is one of the valuable materials which is used in the drinking water filtration process and could be gone into the waste after usage for sometimes. So, this Activated carbon can be utilised as reinforcement, and great innovative search to make composites. In experimental procedure two composites with different compositions (2% activated carbon/LM24 and 4% activated carbon/LM24) and pure LM24 Aluminium alloy were taken. By the experimental study it is found that the hardness increases with increase in the % composition of the activated carbon. Impact strength and compressive strength decreases with the increase of activated carbon by weight percentage in the composite. It is found that these composites can be used for the applications where the hardness is the main criteria. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016). Keywords:Activated carbons, LM24 Aluminium alloy, water filter cartridge, stir casting process, mechanical properties;
* Corresponding author. Tel:+91-8871383977 E-mail address: [email protected];
2214-7853© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016).
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R.S. Rana et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5435–5444
1. Introduction Composite is the material having two or more distinct phases like matrix phase and reinforcing phase and have bulk properties notably different either of the constituents present in the matrix material. Matrix kept the reinforcement to produce desired shape and the reinforcement helps to improve the overall mechanical properties of the matrix. When placed properly, the new combined material shows better strength than each of the individual material. Composite material consists of one or more discontinuous phases engrafted in a continuous phase. The discontinuous phase is normally stronger and harder than the continuous phase and is called the ‘reinforcement material’, while the continuous phase is termed as the ‘matrix material’.Aside from the nature of the factor materials, the geometry of the reinforce(shape, size and distribution) acts upon the property of composite to a great extent. Concentration, usually measured as volume or weight percentage, determines the contribution of a single material to the overall properties of the composite material. Not only the single most important parameter determining the properties of the composite material, but also an easy control manufacturing variable used to change its properties. The orientation of the reinforcement affects the isotropy of the system. The composites exhibit better properties as compared to the regular alloy in various applications because they have stiffness, high specific strength and good wear resistance. Because of having good properties and light weight they have vast applications in automobile, aerospace & transportation industry, marine industry and in defence. Composites play a vital role in our day to day life, for example wood, bones, reinforced concrete cement, GFRP etc. Lots of objects in our everyday routine are mostly composed of composites. With the growth of aluminium within the welding fabrication industry, and its adoption as an excellent choice to steel for many applications, there are increasing requirements for those implied with developing aluminium applications to become more adaptable with this group of materials. Aluminium alloys can be classified into a number of groups based on the particular material’s characteristics such as its ability to respond to mechanical and thermal treatment and the primary alloying element added to the aluminium alloy. One of the important alloys is LM24 which is often in the consideration of the researchers nowadays.LM24 Aluminium alloy is essentially a pressure die casting alloy, for which it has excellent casting characteristics and is generally a slight simpler to die cast that the high Silicon containing alloys. Die castings in LM24 are suitable for most engineering projects and have an advantage over an alloy such as LM6 when maximum mechanical properties are required. In practice LM6 is better over LM24 only for die castings in which a high resistance to corrosion is the main requirement. LM24 has poor weld ability and braze ability. Castings in LM24 are not usually heat treated. It is used for vacuum floor polishers, cleaners, motor frames and housings. For the vast majority of die castings, the alloys LM2 and LM24 are equally suitable. So LM24 should become one of the important matrix materials which could be used by the researchers to make composites. In today’s scenario one of the major problems is the wastage of the valuable materials in the form of scrap or other forms. To reduce these waste, recycle or some effective usage of these materials should be done. One of the wastage is water filter cartridge which is used for the filtration of drinking water, and these cartridges are advised to be changed after 12 months of usage. After the replacement of the cartridges, old cartridges gone in the waste with having no use. These cartridges contain one of the valuable material known as the activated carbon. With knowing that this activated carbon will go in the waste, either of this it can be used in making composites. Now the question arises that what is activated carbon? And why we use it as reinforcement? For its low cost and desirable properties. Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is a form of carbon treated to have small, low volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions. Because of its high degree of micro porosity, only one gram of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 1,300 m2, as determine by the gas adsorption. An activation level sufficient for useful application may be attained individually from high surface area; However, chemical treatment often enhances adsorption properties. Activated carbon is generally derived from charcoal and seldom utilized as bio char. Those derived from coke and coal is referred as activated coke and activated coal respectively. Due to its high valuable properties, it is used as reinforcement material with LM24 Aluminium alloy as matrix material to make composite in this experimental process.
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2. Material and Methods: 2.1. LM24 Aluminium Alloy: LM24 (Al-Si8Cu3.5) was used as matrix in the synthesis of composite. Aluminium alloy was taken in the form of square rod and then cut into smaller pieces with the help of grinding cutter machine in order to keep the alloy inside the crucible properly. With particle addition to light metals like aluminium, the hardness, the Young’s modulus, the yield strength, the tensile strength and the wear resistance increase and the thermal expansion coefficient decreases Composition of matrix alloy was analyzed and the chemical composition of the matrix alloy is given in table 1: Table.1 Chemical Composition of LM24 Alloying Element
% Composition
Copper
3-4
Magnesium
3 max
Silicon
7.5-9.5
Iron
1.3 max
Manganese
0.5 max
Nickel Zinc
0.5 max 3 max
Lead
0.3 max
Tin
0.2 max
Titanium
0.2 max
LM24 is essentially a pressure die casting alloy, for which it has excellent casting characteristics and is generally a little simpler to die cast than the higher Silicon containing alloys. Die castings in LM24 are suitable for most engineering applications and have an advantage over an alloy such as LM6 when maximum mechanical properties are required.The Major Alloying Element in this alloy is silicon i.e. (around 8 %). It is primarily responsible for so called good cast ability (high fluidity, low shrinkage),low density(2.34g/cm3)which may be advantage in reducing total weight of cast component and has very low solubility in Aluminium therefore precipitates as virtually pure Si which is hard and improve the abrasion resistance. Si reduces thermal expansion coefficient of Al-Si alloys. Machinability is poor with addition of silicon in Aluminium. It has been classified as a hypoeutectic alloy as silicon is less than 12% weight and Aluminium alloy having silicon content falling in this range displays good wear resistant characteristic. The presence of copper is around (3%) which affects the strength and hardness of aluminium casting alloys, both heat treated and not heat treated and at both ambient and elevated service temperature. It also improves the machinability of alloys by increasing matrix hardness, On the down side, copper generally it reduces the corrosion resistance of aluminium and in certain alloys and tempers, it increases stress corrosion susceptibility.Magnesium (Mg). Provides substantial strengthening and improvement of the work-hardening characteristics of Aluminium. It can impart good corrosion resistance and weld ability or extremely high Strength. Silicon combines with magnesium to form the hardening phase Mg2Si that provides the strengthening.Literature review of various MMCsand shows that LM24 in spite of its good wear resistance and thermal properties LM24 still haven’t been used in many areas. Thus, increasing a scope to find some new applications for this material.
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2.2. Activated carbon: Activated carbon is the material which works via a process called adsorption, whereas pollutant molecules in the fluid trapped and treated inside the pore structure of the carbon substrate. Carbon filtering is commonly used for, air purifiers, water purification and industrial gas processing, for example the removal of hydrogen sulphide and siloxanesfrom biogas. Also, used in another application such as purification of sugarcane, respirator masks and in the recovery of precious metals, mainly gold. It is also used in the filters of cigarette.Active charcoal carbon filters are most efficient for removing chlorine, volatile organic compounds, sediments, taste and odour from water. They are not effective of removing salts, minerals and dissolved inorganic compounds. Activated carbon, also called as activated coal, activated charcoal, it is a form of carbon that can be processed and have low-volume, small pores that increase the surface area available for chemical reactions or adsorption. Due to its high degree of micro porosity, only one gram of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 500 m2, as determined by gas adsorption. Activation level is adequate for useful application may be attained solely from high surface area; however, further chemical treatment often increases adsorption properties. [5] Reinforcement material used in this project for the synthesis of composite is activated carbon which is taken from the waste water filter cartridge. By using this as reinforcement not only the cost reduces but also there will be an effective utilisation of waste. So, here the criteria are getting a desired composite which has low cost as well as desired mechanical properties as shown in the below Table 2 and Fig 1. Table.2. Chemical composition of Activated carbon Sulphide Compounds Acid soluble substance Sulphated Ash Water extractable substances Alcohol soluble substances Cynogen compounds Arsenic Lead Zinc
Some% Not more than 3% Not more than 5% Not more than 4% Not more than 0.5% Some% Not more than 3mg/kg Not more than 5mg/kg Not more than 25mg/kg
Figure.1. Waste water Filter Cartridge
2.3. Cutting and crushing of Activated carbon: Firstly, waste filter cartridge is taken and then it is cut off, so that the granular activated carbon which is in the cylindrical form is obtained. After that these cylindrical activated carbon is shredded in to powdered form. Sufficient crushing and hammering should be done to achieve somewhat powder form.Also the matrix material i.e. LM24 Aluminium alloy is cut into small pieces from the rectangular bar with the help of Grinder cutter.
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2.4. Ball Milling of the powdered activated carbon: Now the next task is that, conversion of activated carbon into nano form. It can be converted into powdered form by using ball milling process. It is required to achieve nano form reinforcement particles because of the great bonding between the matrix materials.In this process weight of balls used is about 10 times of that of the material which is used for crushing. Before crushing, activated carbon is mixed with the stearic acid which is about 1% of the powdered material. It should be done about 8 to 10 hours in order to convert it completely in to fine powdered form. After that the fine powder is kept out and sieve, so that the fine nano particles is obtained. [6] 2.5. Stir Casting: Stir casting is a liquid metallurgy method of composite material fabrication, in which a dispersed phase like ceramic particles, short fibers are mixed with a molten matrix metal by means of a mechanical stirring. The stir casting arrangements is shown in figure 2. It is effectively mixing the reinforcement material with the matrix material (i.e. Al alloy) and does not damage the reinforcements while stirring. [2]
Figure.2.Stir casting setup
2.6. Composite Fabrication Procedure: In this project, stir casting arrangement that was used is shown in Figure. It consisted of a resistance Muffle Furnace, stirrer assembly and probe assembly to manufacture the composite. Firstly, matrix material that is LM24 Aluminium alloy is cut into small pieces, so that it can be comfortably inserted in the crucible. These small pieces alloy is weighted according to the requirement of samples of same composition. After that, required amount of alloy is kept in the crucible. Along with the crucible, it is kept in the heating furnance of stir casting and allows it to heat for some time until it is melted.When alloy comes in molten form then parallelly reinforcement material that is activated carbon is preheated at about 400oC for 15 minutes, along with mould.After the preheating of the activated carbon, it is allowed to mix with the molten LM24 Alloy externally or with help of spoon, it may be better if there be an injector to flow the particle in to the molten alloy.Mixing of activated carbon and molten alloy is done with the help of mechanical stirrer. This stirrer is rotated at 400 rpm for about 15 minutes. For the proper mixing, further Mg will be added, it is added about 1% of the total weight percentage alloy.When the mixing of activated carbon with the LM24 Aluminium alloy is completed, then it is allowed to pour in to the preheated mould. And the mould is kept
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for sometimes until complete solidification. After the solidification when the mould is cooled, it is open to collect the composite sample. 2.7. Composite Material composition: The composite material composition was constructed based on the literature study and the experimental works done. This project work focused on the LM24 aluminium alloy as a matrix material and the reinforcements as activated carbon from the waste water filter cartridge. According to the previous literature survey and experimental work we have shown the composite materials samples at various wt%. The composite material composition is shown in the table.3. Table.3. composition of composite materials Sample
Aluminium alloy (wt %)
Activated carbon (wt%)
1
100
0
2
98
2
3
96
4
3. Results and discussions: Mechanical properties testing: 3.1. Hardness Test: Hardness is the mechanical property of the material which is the ability to resist indentation and abrasion.For this purpose, here Rockwell Testing machine is used. Hardness was calculated by using Hardness Testing Machine Model- TRSN-D/TRSNT-D as shown in figure 3. Is used for the hardness measurement. Rockwell cum Superficial test is an indentation hardness test using a verified machine to force a diamond spheroconical indenter or hard steel ball indenter under specified condition into the surface of the material under test. A Hardness Testing Machine Model- TRSN-D/TRSNT-D The surface being tested generally requires a metallographic finish and it was done with the help of 400, 600 800 and 1000 grit size emery paper. For measuring hardness of Al alloy, B scale is used. The specification of B scale is that the load applied on the smooth surface is 100 Newton and the indenter ball diameter is 1/16 inch is used. The dwell time was 7 seconds for each sample. The total five reading is taken from the different point on the sample and average is calculated. The result of hardness test for LM24 MMCs with weight % variation of reinforcement activated carbon as shown in the below Fig 3 and Table 4.
Figure.3. Graph showing increasing hardness of composite by increasing % composition of activated carbon
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Table. 4. Rockwell Hardness values at different compositions of the composite.
Composite
Rockwell hardness values st
nd
1
2
Reading Reading
rd
3
Reading
4th
th
5
Reading Reading
Average Value
Pure LM24
39.60
40.20
41.30
40.60
41.30
40.60
LM24+ 2% A.C
52.66
51.43
48.43
59.63
48.23
52.076
LM24+ 4% A.C
60.96
51.60
54.30
60.16
61.50
57.704
It has been seen that the increase in activated carbon content up to 2% has increased the hardness of the composite by 28.26%.Also, activated carbon content up to 4% increases hardness of the composite by 42.12 percent. 3.2. Compression Test: Compression strength of a material is the ability or capacity to withstand compressive force up to the fracture. This compression test is done by using the Universal Testing Machine (UTM). Two samples are under testing of composition 2% activated carbon/LM24 and 4% activated carbon/LM24. Sample dimensions of 2% activated carbon sample have 16mm diameter and 24mm length whereas dimensions of the 4% activated carbon/LM24 sample have 20mm diameter and 30mm length. Compression results of the given sample are below the following table 5, straining speed for the UTM is fixed at 15mm/min and as shown in the below Fig 4 and Fig 5.
Figure.4. Specimens before and after compression
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Figure.5. Graph for compressive test with % composition of activated carbon Table.5. Compressive strength of different composition % composition of activated carbon 0 2 4
compressive strength (Mpa) 610 567 424
As the percentage of the activated carbon increases compressive strength of the composite decreases.For the 2% activated carbon sample compressive strength decreases by 7% approximately from the pure LM24 sample. For the 4% activated carbon sample compressive strength decreases by 30.49% approximately from the pure LM24 sample as shown in the above Table 5 and in the below Table 6. 3.3. Impact Test: Impact test is used to determine the impact energy absorbing capacity per unit volume of the specimen. This absorbed energy is a measure of a given material's toughness. It is done with the impact testing machine of model FIT-300 D. in this machine maximum impact energy of the pendulum were 300 Joules. The impact testing was performed as per ASTM a 370. The dimensions of the specimens were 55 + 0/-2.5 length, 10 ± 0.075 mm width and depth having 2 mm V-notch at the centre. Two readings were taken, and average values were reported. Table.6. Variation in impact strength of the composite with increase in activated carbon Material Pure LM24
Impact Strength(Joule) 3.4
LM24+ 2% A.C 2.8 LM24+ 2% A.C 1.94 __________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Figure.6. Graph of Impact strength (joule) with % composition of activated carbon
There will be decrease in the impact strength value as the percentage composition of the activated carbon increases; it is due to the fact that when the reinforcement that is activated carbon increases it makes composite brittle, by making it hard.As the composite becomes brittle, its energy absorbing capacity per unit volume decreases and hence the composite with higher composition of activated carbon have low value of toughness as shown in above Fig 6. 4. Conclusion
Aluminium Metal matrix composite (LM24 Aluminium alloy+ activated carbon) using different compositions of activated carbon i.e. 2% and 4% by weight percentage and pure alloy has been successfully fabricated by stir casting technique. Hardness of the composite increases by increasing the activated carbon. Hardness of the composite increases by 28.26% for the 2% activated carbon and increases by 42.12% for the 4% activated carbon from the pure LM24 Aluminium alloy. Impact strength of the composite decreases by increasing the activated carbon by weight percentage. Its value decreases by 17.64% for 2% composition and 42.94% for 4% composition from the unreinforced alloy. As the percentage of the activated carbon increases, compressive strength of the composite decreases. Best conclusion can be made that it can be used for the applications where hardness is the main criteria.
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