Comparative characterisation of damping behaviour of aluminium alloy composites produced by different fabrication techniques

Abstract

There is limited information currently available on the damping behaviour of silicon carbide reinforced metal matrix composites for aerospace structural applications. Dynamic mechanical analysis is one of the thermal analysis techniques which can be used to study the damping properties. In the present investigation, a dynamic mechanical thermal analyser is used to investigate the dynamic mechanical properties as a function of temperature for aluminium alloy 2124 + 5%SiC particle reinforced composites. The formation and dissolution of precipitate phases as a function of temperature have also been characterised by the technique of differential scanning calorimetry. It was observed that in all composites, the complex modulus, loss modulus, and damping capacity increased whereas the storage modulus decreased with increasing temperature.