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Hardness and fatigue behavior of SiC, Al2O3, and blast furnace slag reinforced hybrid composites with Al6061 matrix

  • Ahmet Şanlı

    Ahmet Şanlı, born in 1971, graduated as a Technical Teacher from Gazi University in 1998. He received his MSc in the Department of Mechanical Engineering from Bartın University, 2017. He is currently working as Technical Teacher at Bartın Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School.

     ORCID logo     and Serkan Ateş

    Dr. Serkan Ateş, born in 1973, graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Black Sea Technical University. He received his PhD from Kırıkkale University in 2011, focusing on the production and properties of SiC-reinforced Al2014 matrix composite materials using the pressure infiltration method. From 2002 to 2011, he worked as a Research Assistant at Kırıkkale University. Subsequently, he worked as an Assistant Professor at Bartın University from 2011 to 2017. Since 2017, he has been an Assistant Professor at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. His primary research interest is the mechanical behavior of composite materials.

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Published/Copyright: July 23, 2025
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Materials Testing
From the journal Materials Testing Volume 67 Issue 9

Abstract

This study aims the use of blast furnace slag, produced as waste during the production of raw iron in blast furnaces, as a reinforcing element in the production of metal matrix composites. The Al6061 alloy, widely used in the automotive industry, was chosen as the matrix. SiC and Al2O3, two commercial ceramics frequently used in MMC production, were used as the second and third reinforcing elements in hybrid composite production, and their compatibility with blast furnace slag was investigated. Composites were produced using the stir-casting method with reinforcements sized between 22 and 59 µm. Microstructure examinations revealed the presence of blast furnace slag within the internal structure, a homogeneous distribution of reinforcing elements, and the absence of agglomeration. Brinell hardness measurements determined that a 5 wt.% addition of blast furnace slag increased the hardness of the Al6061 alloy by 29.31 %. The greatest increase in hardness, 108.62 %, was observed in the hybrid composite containing 3 wt.% Al2O3, 3 wt.% SiC, and 5 wt.% BFS reinforcements. Fatigue life tests indicated that fatigue life improved with increasing reinforcement. The most significant enhancement in fatigue life, 625.28 %, was observed in the composite reinforced with 3 wt.% BFS, 5 wt.% Al2O3, and 5 wt.% SiC compared to the unreinforced alloy.

Keywords: Al6061; blast furnace slag; composite; fatigue; stir-casting
Corresponding author: Serkan Ateş¸ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur, 15030, Türkiye, E-mail:

About the authors

Ahmet Şanlı

Ahmet Şanlı, born in 1971, graduated as a Technical Teacher from Gazi University in 1998. He received his MSc in the Department of Mechanical Engineering from Bartın University, 2017. He is currently working as Technical Teacher at Bartın Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School.

Serkan Ateş

Dr. Serkan Ateş, born in 1973, graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Black Sea Technical University. He received his PhD from Kırıkkale University in 2011, focusing on the production and properties of SiC-reinforced Al2014 matrix composite materials using the pressure infiltration method. From 2002 to 2011, he worked as a Research Assistant at Kırıkkale University. Subsequently, he worked as an Assistant Professor at Bartın University from 2011 to 2017. Since 2017, he has been an Assistant Professor at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. His primary research interest is the mechanical behavior of composite materials.

Acknowledgments

This article is based on the master’s thesis entitled “Investigation of Tribological Behavior of Traditional and Waste Reinforced Al6061 Metal Matrix Composites”, completed in 2017 under the supervision of Dr. Serkan Ateş.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study.

  3. Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: Large Language Models, Al and Machine Learning Tools were not used in this study.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: This study was not funded by any institution/organization.

  7. Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

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Published Online: 2025-07-23
Published in Print: 2025-09-25

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. FEA of stress distribution in firearms: evaluation of composite materials for gun slides
  3. Effect of heat treatment on mechanical performance of hydraulic breaker alloys
  4. Analysis of friction welded square sections of AISI 430/HARDOX 450 steels
  5. Wear performance of PTA coated NiTi composite on AISI 430 steel
  6. Battery box design of electric vehicles using artificial neural network–assisted catch fish optimization algorithm
  7. Design and synthesis strategy of high-performance black alumina membrane support by adding manganese dioxide
  8. Experimental and numerical analysis of the impact behavior in truncated thin-walled tubes under axial loading
  9. Unveiling the creep mechanisms of rare earth element yttrium added and SPS consolidated CoCrFeNi high entropy alloys
  10. Design optimization of a multi-layer aircraft canopy transparency plate against bird strike
  11. Aircraft wing rib component optimization using artificial neural network–assisted superb fairy-wren algorithm
  12. Artificial neural network-assisted supercell thunderstorm algorithm for optimization of real-world engineering problems
  13. Optimum design of electric vehicle battery enclosure using the chaotic metaheuristic algorithms
  14. Additive manufacturing of overexpanded honeycomb core lattice structures and their characterization
  15. Hardness and fatigue behavior of SiC, Al2O3, and blast furnace slag reinforced hybrid composites with Al6061 matrix
  16. Tribo-mechanical behavior of pectin-filled aloe vera fiber–reinforced polyester composites
https://doi.org/10.1515/mt-2024-0337
Keywords for this article
Al6061; blast furnace slag; composite; fatigue; stir-casting

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. FEA of stress distribution in firearms: evaluation of composite materials for gun slides
  3. Effect of heat treatment on mechanical performance of hydraulic breaker alloys
  4. Analysis of friction welded square sections of AISI 430/HARDOX 450 steels
  5. Wear performance of PTA coated NiTi composite on AISI 430 steel
  6. Battery box design of electric vehicles using artificial neural network–assisted catch fish optimization algorithm
  7. Design and synthesis strategy of high-performance black alumina membrane support by adding manganese dioxide
  8. Experimental and numerical analysis of the impact behavior in truncated thin-walled tubes under axial loading
  9. Unveiling the creep mechanisms of rare earth element yttrium added and SPS consolidated CoCrFeNi high entropy alloys
  10. Design optimization of a multi-layer aircraft canopy transparency plate against bird strike
  11. Aircraft wing rib component optimization using artificial neural network–assisted superb fairy-wren algorithm
  12. Artificial neural network-assisted supercell thunderstorm algorithm for optimization of real-world engineering problems
  13. Optimum design of electric vehicle battery enclosure using the chaotic metaheuristic algorithms
  14. Additive manufacturing of overexpanded honeycomb core lattice structures and their characterization
  15. Hardness and fatigue behavior of SiC, Al2O3, and blast furnace slag reinforced hybrid composites with Al6061 matrix
  16. Tribo-mechanical behavior of pectin-filled aloe vera fiber–reinforced polyester composites
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