Optimizing Tensile Strength and Hardness in Al-Based Hybrid Composites via Stir-Squeeze Technique

This research study focused on the hybrid composites using AA 7178 as a base alloy reinforced with two materials ZrO2/SiC. Nine specimens were prepared using stir-squeeze processing techniques by varying their speed (rpm), time(s) and pressure (N/m2). To analyze the mechanical strength and resistance, a Taguchi design was utilized on hybrid composites. The experimental results indicated that the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), (the maximum value 265.5 MPa) was achieved in the S9 experiment, while the minimum value (175 MPa) was observed in the S1 experiment. To perform the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the parameters and to analyze SN ratio, a state-of-art software Minitab was utilized. The ANOVA results revealed that stirring speed had the most significant impact on improving tensile strength which contributed approximately to 43.2%. The next substantial factor was the Stirring time which contributed around 42.5% and followed by Squeeze pressure at 12.1%. From the hardness ANOVA result, Stirring time was the first factor contributing to 46.7% followed by a Squeeze pressure of 35.2% and a Stirring speed of 7.6% respectively.