Production and characterization of GNPs-reinforced Al-based composite material by mechanical alloying

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of graphene nanoplates (GNPs), and alloying time on aluminum matrix composite. After mixing the powdered materials in the alloying device, solid samples were formed by sintering. It is thought that the effect of using such a mechanical mixer on GNPs will be investigated and this study will give a perspective on the composites that GNPs will make with Al and its alloys. Design/methodology/approach Mechanical alloying (MA) device capable of high-speed shaking (Spex) movement was used and alloying was performed by adding other metal powders into aluminum, which is the matrix material, with the addition of GNPs at three different rates and times. The crystal size and lattice stress parameters were calculated by obtaining the X-ray diffraction (XRD) graphics of the obtained powder mixtures. Findings The XRD graphs of the obtained powder mixtures showed that the Al peaks decreased when the MA time increased. When the scanning electron microscopy images of the powder mixtures were examined, it was observed that agglomeration occurred especially in 1 and 1.5 Wt.% graphene reinforced mixtures that were MA for 90 min. The increase in the amount of graphene had a negative effect on the homogeneous distribution. When the Vickers microhardness values of the samples were examined, the hardness value of all samples increased up to the MA time of 45 min, and decreased in the times over 45 min. Originality/value The use of GNPs in the mechanical alloying technique and the fact that this technique was performed on the Retsch MM 400 device, which is a Spex type mixer, shows the originality of the study in terms of time and material content.