INFLUENCE OF INOCULANT ADDITION AND COOLING MEDIUM ON THEudMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF AA 6063-TYPE Al-Mg-Si ALLOY

摘要

Studies have been made on the influence of water and air cooling coupled with inoculationudon the mechanical properties of 6063 aluminum alloy. The work was aimed atudinvestigating the combined effects of two crystallization enhancers in order to provide audsynergy-form of effect in the mechanical properties using 4.2% wt and 16.5% wt Niudpowder particles. The alloying compositions, phase change and micro-hardness wereuddetermined by using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), XRD and Brinell microhardnessudtester. The surface morphology of the alloyed sample using scanning electronudmicroscopy (SEM) showed that Ni particles were distributed by virtue of surfactantudaddition and mechanical stirring. Addition of Ni powder coupled with increase inudsolidification rate yield size reduction in aluminum alloy structure. The results alsoudrevealed that conglomeration of inoculant addition and water cooling increased theudfracture strength of the aluminum alloy while both axial and lateral deformations wereudaltered.