Squeeze casting is an eflicient casting process where solidification is promoted under high pres-sure

within a re-usable die. It is an efticient technique for the manufacturing of metal matricomposites as
they exhibit better mechaunicEul properties due to the presence of fewer commodefects such as
porosity and shrinking cavities. The objective of this study is to find out the efteof stroke length on the
wea, r characteristics of squeeze cast A336 composites, The composites wemade by adding SIC particles
of weight percentage varying from 0-15 wt% using bottom pouritype stir casting furna, ce with squeeze
cmting, Weaur test wEbs conducted on reciprocating wetester. The microstructural, hebrdness and
tension tests were conducted. Restilts showed that thesqueeze cast products exhibit better mechanical
properties and superior wear resistance comparedto gravity cast products. Also the stroke length and
Ebpplied load have significant eftect on thewear rebte.

introduction

Over the past few decades, the use of ligt weight, components with good mechanical performance is
widely increasing in the a, pplications like automotive and aerospace industries. Since the pressure
assisted casting processes are found to be a, good compromise between cost and goodperformance,
over the past decade, aluminium or magnesium components produced by meanss of pressure assisted
processes have been introduced as a, substitute for cast iron components.When the substitution is
possible, a, great advantage in terms of cost saving and component weight reduction is obtained.

literature survey

In the study by Pu-yun DONG et al. A356-based metal matrix composites with 10% SICparticles of 10 m
were fabricated by stir casting and direct squeeze casting process underappliecl pressures of 0. 1
(gravity), 25, 50 and 75 Mpa. Microstructures and mechanicalproperties as well as Coefticient of Thermal
Exapansions (eTEs) of the as-cmt and T6-treated castings were evaluated. The fracture behaviors of the
composites were anELlyzed anddiscussecl. Compared with the as-cast composite castings, the tensile st,
rength and hardnessof the heat-trea, ted cmting were improved whereas CTEs tended to decrease in T6-
treatedcondition. It is clearly observed that for the gravity cast composites there are some particle-
porosity clusters on the h · acture surface and the clusters were hardly detected on the fracturesurf£Lce
of the sELmples soliclified at the external pressures. For the gravity cast composites,there are some
pELTticle-porosity clusters on the fracture surface, and the clusters are hardlydetect cd o11 Lhc fracture
surface of the samples solidified at thc external pressures. The study revealed that the sQLIcczc pressure
has considerable role in thc refinement of microstructure.

Wenfei Mo et al. InvestigEuted the eftects of processing parameters including appliec[ pres-sure, pouring
temperature bnd dwell time on the microstructure Eund mechanicaul propertiesof squeeze-cast
Mg12Zn4A10. 5Ca (ZAX12405) alloy. Squeeze casting ZAX12405 alloy ex-hibited a finer microstructure
and much better mechanical properties than gravity castingalloy. Increasing the applied pressure led to
significant cast densificEution anel a certain extent of grain refinement in microstructure, along with
obvious promotion in mechanical proper-ties. Lowering t, he pouring temperature refined thc
microstruct, ure of ZAX 12405 alloy, butdot, erinrat, cd t, he Hrlidit, y nf FI, 11oy, which rQFm1(, s in t, hc.
Incrcn, sQ nf shrinkn, ₩ pnrnsitiek. Tn-creasing the dwell time promoted cast clensification anel
mechaniceLl properties, just before the solidification process ended.

In the stLIdy by A. Ma, teki et al. Eftects of appliecl pressLire aLID melt, a, nd die t, empereLtureson the
microstructure of squeeze cast LM13 alloy were examinecl. Applied pressure decreasesthe grain size and
Secondary Dendrite Arm Spacing (SDAS) of primary phase, SDAS was dropped from aboLIt 47 Hm for
atmospheric pressure to about 34 llm for an externalpressure of about 100 MPa. Applied pressure
modifies and reduces the average aspect ratioof the eutectic silicon particles. The average aspect ratio of
the eutectic silicon p£LTticles

was dropped from 5 for atmospheric pressure to about 1. 5 for an external pressure of about100 A/Lpa.
It hEus also made the morphology of the eutectic silicon particles more uniform.Eftects of a, pplied
pressure on the SDAS of primary phme a. Nd the aspect ratio of eutect, icsilicon pa, rticles become
negligible for externa, 1 pressures of more thEbn a, bout 100 hlipa. It, ispostulated that 100 N【Pa is the
external pressure at which a contplete contELct between themetal a, ncl die surftLce is rea, lized.

Chadwick and Yue reviewed mpects of recent progress in the development of currentsqueeze-casting
techniques, and addresses both the merits and limitations of the variousprocesses. The relationships
between the microstructure and mechanical properties of soLT1esqueeze-cmt light alloys, as well as
their metal-matrix composite (MMC) counterparts,

are presented, and the distinguished advantage of being able to directly squeeze cast highstrength
aerospace wrought alloys, thus replacing forgings by casting, is highlighted. Re-garding the
microstructure of squeeze cast products, the combination of high pressures andmetal moulds leads to
high heat-transfer coeflicients, which in turn lead to alterations inmicrostructures. The most obvious
manifesteution of high heat-transfer coefficients is therefinement of the microstructure. There is no real
vELlue ILJ attempting t, o fibre andlor par-

ticle reinforce castings if they contain any porosity, since the porous regions will domina, teall the
mechanica, 1 response to loading. It is oL1ly when zero-porosity castings are a, va, ila, blethat
reinforcement becomes a practicable proposition : this is where squeeze ca, sting has a,clear advEuntage
over alternative techniques. Over the past 10 years, the squeeze-casting

process has been proven to be an ideal way to produce near net-shape high-quality engineering
components, especially for the ELutomotive industry, in both conventionally-cast and wrought-alloy
compositions. The process is most suitable for opening up new possibilities for the prodLIction of
castings that are subjected to high-service stresses. In the UK, Japan, and elsewhere, several squeeze-
cast alloy components, some of which are fibre reinforced, are ELlready in service. Their superiority in
quality and in properties, over those prodLIced byconventional casting processes and die forging, is
apparent.

In the work done by Y Sahin, A1uminiLtm alloy composites containing various particle sizesof 10 and 20
wt% SIC particles were prepared by molten metal mixing and squeeze castingmethod under argoLr gas.
The stirring was carried out with graphite impeller during additionof par ticle. The molten mixture was
poured into a · die when the stirring wm completedand metal matrix composites were produced by
applying the pressure. Optical microscopicexamination, hardness, density and porosity memurement
were carried out. Nioreover, metalmatrix composites were machined at various cutting speeds under a
fixed depth of cut a, nd

feed rate using difterent cutting tools, It is observed that there was a reasonably uniformdispersion of
particles in the matrix alloy. The density decreased with decreasing particlesizes, bLit porosity decreased
considerably with increasing particle size. In addition, the toollife decreased considerably with increming
cutting speeds for all tests. Among cutting t, ools,the wear resistance of A12 03 coatecl tools showed
better performance than those of the other tools without chip breaker geometries in the ma, chining of
SIC,-reinforced composites.