The Effects of Copper and Manganese Additives on the Mechanical and Structural Properties of Aluminium Alloy (Al-5wt.%Mg)

Abstract

In this research work, the effects of copper and manganese addition of varying weight percentages, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 were investigated on mechanical and structure of Al-5wt%Mg. The alloys were produced using permanent mold, After the production of the alloy, samples for tensile, toughness, hardness tests and microstructural analysis were produced from various alloys maintaining specific ASTM standards. Characterization was done using Charpy Impact Testing Machine 3000N Joules, model MT 3050, Rockwell Hardness Tester Model HRS-150 and universal Materials Tester 20KN MODEL MT 2021, EDLABQUIP. The results showed that as the content of copper and manganese increased, the ultimate tensile strength, toughness strength and hardness value increased. The optimal tensile strength of 695.33 N/mm2 and 464.181 N/mm2 were obtained from Al-5wt.%Mg +1.0wt.%Cu and Al-5wt.%Mg +1.0wt.%Mn alloys respectively. Moreso, optimal toughness strength value of 19.50 Joules was obtained from Al-5wt.%Mg +1.0wt.%Cu. The microstructure morphologies of the alloy showed the as the additives content increased, refinement of the grains increased. Comparatively, the experimental results showed that copper as an additive in Al-5wt.%Mg alloy played greater role on improvement of its mechanical properties for engineering applications.