Effect of the Presence of Continuous/ Discontinuous/ Hybrid Reinforcement on the Damping Characteristics of Pure Aluminium Matrix

Al is well known to serve as a metallic matrix in a composite due to its enhanced ductility and toughness. In the present study, pure Al (AA1050) is reinforced with two different reinforcements viz., an interconnected, axisymmetrical, galvanized iron wire perform and SiC particulates and were tested in a free-free type suspended beam arrangement, coupled with circle-fit approach to determine damping characteristics. The results show the effect of individual and combined presence of two different reinforcements in terms of damping loss factor. Addition of ~ 2 vol. % of interconnected reinforcement increases the overall damping capacity of the aluminium matrix by ~ 15 % which is equivalent to the presence of ~ 4.8 vol. % of SiCp. But combined presence of ~2 vol. % of interconnected wire reinforcement along with ~0.5 vol. % of SiCp increases the damping capacity to 24 % which forms a new breed of hybrid composites. This increase in damping can be rationalized in terms of the induced plastic zone and reinforcement’s aspect ratio.