Investigation of microstructure and mechanical properties of AA7068 reinforced with MgO prepared using powder metallurgy

This paper deals with the fabrication of AA 7068 composites manufactured by powder metallurgy route reinforced with different weight percentages of MgO (0%, 1%, 2%, and 5%). A low pressure of 318 MPa was applied for compacting the composites and sintered at a temperature of 560°C for one hour. Optical microscopy and SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope) analysis was done to study the microstructural behavior. The hardness has been improved to 68 VHN by adding the weight percentage of MgO to 5%.