Correlation of Microstructure with Compression Behaviour of Al5083/ZrC Nanocomposites Fabricated Through Spark Plasma Sintering

The present study deals with the fabrication of Al-ZrC nanocomposite prepared by varying the reinforcement content in wt% via spark plasma sintering. The grain size exhibited in bulk product was 13 mu m in 12 wt% ZrC reinforced nanocomposites. The introduced ZrC nanoparticles were upgraded the load carrying ability of the end product. The advanced microscopic studies such as XRD, SEM and TEM were analysed to study the structural behaviour. The XRD results revealed the presence of ZrC in the Al matrix; SEM expresses the constant scattering and non-appearance of agglomeration among the ZrC particles; TEM results depicted the clear interface between the matrix and reinforcement. The hardness and compression studies were carried out in the fabricated nanocomposites. The obtained results confirmed that the nanocomposites exhibited better outstanding load carrying ability which was due to decrease in grain size, uniform dispersion of reinforcement particles and generation of dislocation due to thermal mismatch between Al and ZrC.