Self-Healing Al 6061 Alloy Reinforced with Low Melting Point Alloys

Self-healing materials can recover/repair damage automatically and autonomously with or without the external intervention. In recent times, many researchers have developed competitive technologies to achieve self-healing properties of materials. This paper presents a methodology to develop self-healing concept in metal matrix composite. Aluminium 6061 has been utilized as the base metal, and a low melting point metal filled into it to develop samples using the injection moulding method. Sand casting has also been used to cast the required sample of Al 6061. To demonstrate self-healing behaviour in the developed composite, an artificial crack developed in the sample using a lathe and drill machines. It has been observed that the low melting point alloy gets filled in the crack with heat. This shows the partially self-healing behaviour of composite. SEM and microstructural test has been performed to find out the topological and morphological characteristics of the matrix.