Research Summary on the Processing, Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Aluminium Matrix Composites as Effected by Fly Ash Reinforcement

Fly ash is the main waste as a result of combustion in coal fired power plants. It represents about 40% of the wastes of coal combustion products (fly ash, boiler ash, flue gas desulphurization gypsum and bottom ash). Currently, coal waste is not fully utilized and waste disposal remains a serious concern despite tremendous global efforts in reducing fossil fuel dependency and shifting to sustainable energy sources. Owing to that, employment of fly ash as reinforcement particles in metallic matrix composites are gaining momentum as part of recycling effort and also as a means to improve the specifications of the materials that are added to it to form composite materials. Many studies have been done on fly ash to study composite materials wear characteristics including the effects of fly ash content, applied load, and sliding velocity. Here, particular attention is given to studies carried out on the influence FA content on physical, mechanical, and the thermal behavior of Aluminium-FA composites. Considerable changes in these properties are seen by fly ash refinement with limited size and weight fraction. The advantage of fly ash addition results in low density of composites materials, improvement of strength, and hardness. It further reduces the thermal expansion coefficient and improve wear resistance.