article · Journal of Alloys and Metallurgical Systems
Magnesium alloys provide attractive strength-to-weight ratios for lightweight engineering, yet inadequate hardness and wear resistance restrict their practical use. To tackle these issues, hybrid metal matrix composites were developed by incorporating titanium silicon carbide MAX-phase particles, nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy, and graphene oxide into a ZE41 magnesium base using stir casting. Evaluating eight different reinforcement ratios revealed that a composite containing five weight percent titanium silicon carbide, five weight percent nickel-titanium, and two weight percent graphene oxide delivered the best performance. This composition increased microhardness by 37.5 percent and compressive strength by 46.75 percent compared to unreinforced ZE41 alloy. In addition, wear resistance improved by 56.8 percent, shifting the primary degradation mode from severe abrasive-delamination wear to mild abrasive wear. These combined additions offer a viable pathway to strengthen magnesium components for demanding environments.
Magnesium is one of the lightest structural metals available, making it highly desirable for reducing vehicle weight and cutting energy consumption. However, its tendency to wear down and deform under mechanical load prevents broader adoption. Demonstrating that multi-material reinforcements can significantly elevate strength, hardness, and durability helps advance magnesium towards practical use in high-stress, weight-sensitive machinery.
The tested hybrid composites target lightweight structural components in automotive and aerospace systems where unreinforced magnesium currently fails due to wear or low hardness. Potential users include component manufacturers and vehicle designers seeking mass reduction without sacrificing mechanical durability. Because the findings reflect early-stage laboratory casting and material property testing, substantial engineering validation, scale-up, and component-level testing remain necessary before practical commercial deployment.
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Magnesium alloys are considered promising lightweight materials for automotive, aerospace, and other structural applications due to their low density and high strength-to-weight ratio, their limited strength, hardness, and wear resistance limit their wider industrial utilization. The present investigation is to evaluate the synergistic effects of Ti 3 SiC 2 MAX-phase particles, NiTi shape-memory alloy, and graphene oxide (GO) particles on the microstructure, mechanical and tribological performance of stir-cast ZE41 hybrid composites. Eight samples with various weight percentages (wt.%) of Ti 3 SiC 2 and NiTi and a constant GO were fabricated using the stir casting process under an argon gas atmosphere. Investigated experimental densities ranged from 1.803 to 2.232 g/cm³, while porosity increased from 2.01% to 4.19% with increasing reinforcement wt.%, as revealed by density and porosity measurements. The microstructure and interfacial bonding were significantly refined and improved by the hybrid reinforcements, as confirmed by comprehensive characterization. The best composition, Cast-5 (88 wt.% ZE41 + 5 wt.% Ti 3 SiC 2 + 5 wt.% NiTi + 2 wt.% GO), exhibited the maximum microhardness value of 86.2 HV and compressive strength (CS) of 227.9 MPa, which are 37.5% and 46.75% higher than the unreinforced ZE41. The specific wear rate was reduced from 0.000516 to 0.000223 mm³/N·m, which showed an improvement in wear resistance of 56.8%. Wear surfaces were examined by SEM, and it was found that the base alloy suffers from severe abrasive-delamination wear, and the optimized composite undergoes mild abrasive wear. The results reveal the promising performance of the ZE41 hybrid composites for lightweight potential utilization in automotive systems and aerospace industries.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.jalmes.2026.100266
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