%0 Journal Article %T CHARACTERISATION, TESTING AND SOFTWARE ANALYSIS OF AL-WC NANO COMPOSITES %J Iranian Journal of Science and Technology Transactions of Mechanical Engineering %I Shiraz University %Z 2228-6187 %D 2014 %\ 04/01/2014 %V 38 %N M1 %P 105-117 %! CHARACTERISATION, TESTING AND SOFTWARE ANALYSIS OF AL-WC NANO COMPOSITES %K Metal matrix composites %K Al-WC composites %K ultrasonic test %K compressibility studies %K SEM&EDX images %K ANSYS analysis %R 10.22099/ijstm.2014.1932 %X In the present study, Al-WC (0, 5, 10, 15% weight fractions) nano composite wasdeveloped with WC particles as the reinforcement and Al particles as the base metal. The WC(99.5%, 20μm) is mixed (0,5,10 & 15% in weight fractions) with Al powder (99.5%, 60μm) andmilled separately for 45 h using high energy ball mill (Pulversitte 6, Fritsch-Germany,50 WCballs,10mm,b/p 20:1,300 rpm). Characterisation (every 9 h) is done using SEM (Hitachi, andSU1510-Japan), Zetasizer (Malvern, Nano ZS90 - UK) and AFM (XE 70, Park Systems -Korea).The particles reach the nano size after 45 h of milling. The raw powders are compacted(200,250,300kN), sintered (450ºC) and furnace cooled (for 48 h) to prepare the specimens ofvarious aspect ratios (0.3, 0.32, 0.36, 0.38, 0.4, 0.42). The Nano indentation (2nN, AFM, XE 70,Park Systems, Korea), non-destructive (Fallon Ultrasonics,100MHZ, FUI1050, Canada) anddestructive testing (UTM,1MN,5mm/min,10 kN increments) are carried out on all preforms toevaluate mechanical (axial, hydrostatic, hoop stresses and strains), physical (density,acoustic impedance, hardness) and elastic (Young’s, shear, bulk modulus and Poisson ratio)properties of the composites and then analysed (graphical analysis), and the composite having thebest properties ( Al-15WC, h/d 0.3,ρf 0.79) is identified. Then, its properties are fed into ANSYSWorkbench software (Release14) and FEA analysis (Static structural,67500 nodes, LinearSolid185 type,38283 elements) is carried out on the piston (114.7mm³,1.83 kg), modelled usingPRO-E software. The results show the substantial improvement of the properties of the Al-WCcomposites compared to the parent metal. %U https://ijstm.shirazu.ac.ir/article_1932_4add01fa9f6ca3588bf26bd5b71ca9ac.pdf