Nanoindentation of ZA27 alloy based nanocomposites reinforced with Al2O3 particles

Abstract

Nanoindentation has been widely used for material mechanical characterization. In this study, nanocomposite of ZA27 alloy matrix reinforced with different volume fractions of nanometric Al2O3 ceramic particles ranging from 0 to 5 %, were produces using compocasting technique. Nanoindentation tests were performed using Berkovich three sided diamond pyramid, with maximum load of 100 mN and maximum load holding time of 15 s. Indentation imprints were investigated using optical and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Average particle size was 20-30 nm. Nanoindentation tests showed that nanocomposites have higher values of hardness and lower values of elastic modulus in comparison to the ZA27 matrix alloy. Obtained results have different values in comparison to the theoretical investigations.