Mechanical characterization and thermal conductivity of nanosilica reinforced Al6061 based nanocomposite S. R. Kumar, A. Sharma, D. K. Patel Materialwissenschaft Und Werkstofftechnik, 2025 In the form of bar, rod and plate, aluminum alloy Al6061 has been widely used as components in many applications. In the current investigation, the effect of silica nanoparticles on the physical and mechanical behavior of Al6061‐based nanocomposite has been investigated. Al6061‐based nanocomposites were prepared using stir casting machine. Characterization properties for the investigation taken were hardness, void content, tensile strength, flexural strength, fracture toughness, and thermal conductivity. The inclusion of 3 wt.‐% silica nanoparticle increased the void content, hardness, tensile strength, flexural strength, and fracture toughness by 44 %, 5.1 %, 52 %, 8 %, and 18.6 % respectively. However, the composite made of Al6061 had a 4 % reduction in thermal conductivity. The best percentage of nanosilica for mechanical and thermal conductivity properties of Al6061 based composite was 9 wt.‐%. Hence, nanosilica can be suggested as promising reinforcement for composite material applications requiring high strength and low thermal conductivity.
Investigation of physical, chemical and mechanical behaviour of nano-ZrO2-based dental composite Shiv Ranjan Kumar, Hari Om Sharma, Sachin Kumar, Dinesh Kumar Patel Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part E Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering, 2025 The incorporation of glass fibre in dental composite improves mechanical properties but doesn’t improves physical and chemical properties. Hence, in this paper, it has attempted to investigate the effect of nano-ZrO2 with varying content (0, 3, 6 and 9 weight percentage) on physical properties (water sorption behaviour, solubility), chemical properties (degree of conversion, polymerization shrinkage) as well as mechanical properties (compressive strength, flexural strength). The finding of the result indicated that polymerization shrinkage was decreased with the addition of nano-ZrO2. However, water sorption indicated varying trends in which it initially increased at 6 wt.% and later decreased at 9 wt.% nano-ZrO2. On the other hand, mechanical properties such as flexural strength and compressive strength were increased by 28.5% and 27.2%, respectively with the addition of 3 wt.% of nano-ZrO2 despite an increase in water sorption at 3 wt.% of nano-ZrO2 by 31%. Therefore, it can be concluded that the hygroscopic compensation due to water sorption in nano-ZrO2-based dental composite relieves the undesirable polymerization shrinkage but on the other side, the extensive amount of water sorption of nano-ZrO2-based dental composite results in degradation, softening, colour instability and decrease in mechanical properties.
Enhancing hydrophobicity and anti-corrosion properties of Al-6061Aluminum hybrid composites through trace additions of rare earth oxides Dinesh Kumar Patel, Vipin Kumar Sharma, Vinod Kumar, Pardeep Kumar, Dinesh Kumar Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part E Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering, 2025 Rare Earth elements (REEs) are known as the “vitamins of chemistry” have widely used in industries including aerospace, marine and electronics. Metals and ceramics are examples of existing durable materials that are typically hydrophilic and need to be modified with other materials to become hydrophobic. This research paper investigates the hydrophobic potential of the family of ceramics known as rare-earths, which belong to the lanthanide series. The distinct electronic structure of rare earths atoms hinders hydrogen bonding when water molecules come in contact with the composites. This results in a hydrophobic hydration structure, wherein the surface oxygen atoms serve as the only hydrogen bonding sites. Moisture can speed up the corrosion process, particularly when combined with oxygen and other impurities. Water has the ability to help electrolytes develop that accelerates aluminum corrosion. Aluminum corrodes more quickly at higher temperatures. Owing to their distinct physicochemical characteristics, rare earth metals have attracted a lot of attention to improve the performance of composites. When Rare Earth Oxides (REOs) are added to composite materials, their hydrophobicity is greatly increased. This is because passive films are formed and the microstructure is altered, which increases the materials’ resistance to corrosion. Apart from these fundamentals of hydrophobicity, corrosion behaviour and challenges are also discussed in this paper.
