This study aimed to compare as-cast AA5059 to composites reinforced with 10% kaolinite and made using a novel encapsulation technique that determines their hardness level. Using a novel encapsulation technique, the stir-casting method generated the samples for both groups. The mixture of kaolinite (10%) and AA5059 was exploited as a composite for group 1, while AA5059 as-cast was employed for group 2. ASTM E92 standards produced the samples, and a Vickers hardness machine was deployed to measure the hardness of the samples. There were 20 samples in each group. The sample size calculation was done using a G-power of 80%, α = 0.05 per set, and a total sample size of 40. The (10%) kaolinite-filled material had the maximum hardness, 48% harder than the as-cast AA5059. According to statistical analysis of the t-test, it is observed that there is a significant p = 0.00 (p < 0.05) difference in the mean variance of hardness between group 1 and group 2. Within the limitations of this study, it was observed that the hardness of the AA5059 composite is immensely enhanced by adding the 10% kaolinite reinforcement.

PDF (Download Full text)

Download Citation (XML)