American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) 2019 American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) E-ISSN: 2320-0847 p-ISSN: 2320-0936 Volume-8, Issue-3, pp-57-63 www.ajer.org Research Paper Open Access www.ajer.org Page 57 Production of Motorcycle Piston with Improved Mechanical Properties and Wear Resistance using Scrap Aluminium Alloys 1 Abdul Audu, 1 Abdussalam Mamoon, 1 Nazir N. Yunusa 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, Nigeria Corresponding Author: Abdul Audu ABSTRACT : This research work is aimed at improving the wear resistance and mechanical properties of a cast motorcycle piston from recycled aluminium pistons. Locally sourced recycled aluminium piston was used as the matrix whereas a charcoal ash content of constant percentage was used as the reinforcement material. The compositions of the recycled piston scrap and charcoal ash were acquired. The matrix material was kept at its slurry state under heat and preheated volume fractions of 0% and 10% charcoal ash particles were added by stir casting. The molten mixture was then poured into a mould having prepared piston sand core in place to obtain a piston. Careful examination was done on the piston after fettling and cleaning, where the piston was found to be good. The cast piston was machined to standard piston size and dimension. The microstructural and mechanical properties of the composites were studied. The result indicated that there was increase in the melting temperature, solidification temperature, hardness and wear resistance of the reinforced composite, which may be due to the hindrance in dislocation movement of the aluminium particles as a result of the introduction of the charcoal particles. The microstructural test reveals that the particles became closely packed together which prevented excessive wear loss. However, the ultimate tensile strength was found to reduce slightly. KEYWORDS: Aluminium, Composite, Mechanical Properties, Piston, Stir Casting. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 20-02-2019 Date of acceptance: 08-03-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. INTRODUCTION Increased public awareness on global environmental issues and depletion of natural resources makes sustainability and recycling of non-renewable natural resources very vital. Among all materials, recycled aluminium accounts for one-third of global aluminium consumption and has been recycled since its first commercial production. Global environmental policies and regulations have prompted the search for materials that are environmentally friendly as well as decrease the rate of consumption of fossil fuel [1]. This can be achieved if the efficiency of the automobile is improved by reducing the weight of the automobile whose main components are the engine and the frame. Engine piston is an element of the crankshaft assembly, which take part in the conversion of thermal energy into mechanical work [2]. The piston is one of the most stressed components of an entire vehicle. Engine piston failures occur at various mileages and are due to different causes. These failures are caused by material defects and engineering and operational errors. Materials that are most commonly used for manufacturing pistons include: cast iron, alloy steel and aluminium alloys, aluminium- silicon (Al-Si) alloys and aluminium-copper (Al-Cu) alloys. Aluminium alloys are distinguished by good formability during casting and good machinability (machine cutting). These alloys are characterised by their low hardness & strength indices at elevated temperature (low mechanical properties), low wear resistance and large thermal expansion coefficient [3]. To overcome these shortcomings, these alloys are reinforced with ceramic materials to develop new composite materials. Composites are emerging engineered materials as a result of a combination of two or more materials in which tailored properties can be achieved. The term composite broadly refers to a material system which is composed of a discrete constituent (the reinforcement) distributed in a continuous phase (the matrix) and which derive its distinguishing characteristics from the constituents and from the properties of the boundaries (interfaces) between the different constituents [4]. Composites materials offer high strength to weight ratio,