SUSTAINABLE AND LOW-COST DEVELOPMENT OF ALUMINIUM NANOCOMPOSITES THROUGH A NOVEL STIR CASTING APPROACH

Nanocomposites are the next generation of materials, which can provide significant improvement in performance with potential applications in several industries including oil and gas, automotive, marine and aerospace. However, nanocomposites are quite expensive due to the matrix as well as the reinforcement and the process adopted. In this proposal, for the first time, the nanocomposites are produced through a novel electromagnetic stir-casting route using locally available scrap aluminium alloy as matrix material that makes the development sustainable, environmentally friendly as well as low cost since the 95% of the used material is recycled one. Nanoparticles would be used as reinforcement in the aluminum matrix and the targeted application would be brake discs for automotive applications. Adding nanoparticles is not an easy task since agglomeration is an issue, and it leads to little improvement in the mechanical properties. For this reason, several strategies are applied for improving wetting as well as dispersing of the nanoparticles in this research. Electromagnetic stirring and ultrasonic agitation will be used for dispersing the nanoparticles. The produced nanocomposite with enhanced mechanical and wear resistance properties are projected to increase the service life of the engineering components resulting in an increased profit margin. ANSYS GRANTA Selector will be used to systematically select the nanoparticle as a reinforcement material followed by preliminary trials. Since large number of process variables (electromagnetic, ultrasonic, reinforcement wt %) will be involved, it will be exhaustive to do a full factorial experiments and so Design of Experiments (DoE) approach will be used for planning the experiments. In addition, the Eco Audit Tool of GRANTA selector will also be used to evaluate the environmental impact of the produced nanocomposite. The adopted novel approach for the production of nanocomposite using scrap material is anticipated in reducing the cost as well as renders the manufacturing process sustainable. This approach can easily be scaled up for producing in large volumes as well as open avenues for developing nanocomposite reinforced with other waste materials such as waste aluminium cans, waste aircraft aluminium spares as matrix material.