Title: Hot ECAP implementation in zirconia reinforced aluminium chip matrix (Al6061) composite production

Abstract

The demand of aluminium in transportation sector is growing rapidly due to the high strength to weight ratio requirement for fuel saving and performance purpose. There is a need to develop a sustainable recycling process without melting phase for the secondary aluminium production that can further save the energy, reduce the greenhouse gas emission level and global warming. Therefore, a meltless equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) method was introduced to process the aluminium wastes in the form of chips to achieve the forementioned agenda. In this study, the composites made of aluminium AA6061 chips reinforced with 5%, 10%, and 15% volume fraction of ZrO2 powder were produced under the different processing temperatures of 450°C, 500°C, 550°C. The experimental results were analysed using the design and analysis of experiments (DOE) principle and assisted by the Minitab 18 software. It was reported that the maximum yield strength and hardness increased to 119.26 MPa and 65.25VH compared to 100.26 MPa and 50 VH (asreceived AA6061) respectively.