Fracture toughness (K1C ) and tensile properties of as-cast and

The tensile and fracture behavior of as-cast and age-hardened aluminium (6063), siliconcarbide particulate composites produced, using borax additive and a two step stir casting method, wasinvestigated. al (6063), sicp composites having 3, 6, 9, and 12 volume percent of sic were produced, andsample representatives of each composition were subjected to age-hardening treatment at 1800 ,c for3 hours. tensile and circumferential notched tensile (cnt) specimens were utilized for tension testingto evaluate, respectively, the tensile properties and fracture toughness of the composites. experimentalresults show that the ageing treatment resulted in little improvement in the tensile strength of thecomposites. the tensile strength and yield strength increased to almost the same magnitude with anincrease in sic volume percent for both as-cast and age-hardened conditions. the increase was, however,more significant for the 9 and 12 volume percent sic reinforcement. the strain to fracture was lesssensitive to volume percent sic reinforcement and ageing treatment, with values less than 12% strainto fracture observed in all cases. the fracture toughness, however, improved significantly with ageingtreatment (as-cast k1c d 6:63 ?? 6:71 mpa m1=2; ageing treatment k1c d 7:57 ?? 8:2 mpa m1=2).