Published Paper Details:

The combination of environment effect and internal stress due to various forms of loads on stiffened structures like fuselage, wing and empennage of air vehicles, hull of a ship, and structural components of automobiles diminishes its design fatigue life. In fact, due to this effect the elongation and restoration of the material deviate from its elastic curve day by day. After a period of time, the repeated usage of these vehicle components in the changing environment with continues reaction to external loads causes crack formation in the weaker section of the material. The aim of this study is to limit the elongation of material and maintain the required strength and stiffness by introducing fibre reinforcement in metal matrix composite. Also it helps us to evaluate the strength degradation due to the environmental effect. For the analysis, a metal matrix composite was fabricated with 30% basalt as fibre reinforcement with 70% aluminium GRADE 6061-T6 as matrix. An experimental setup was fabricated to provide an artificial environment for the combined effect of stress and corrosion. The specimens were prepared according to the ASTM standard and fixed in the experimental setup for testing. The ultimate tensile strength of the specimens was determined initially and then after 30days, 60days and 90days interval using Universal Testing Machine (UTM). Also, the deflection due to a static load of 5 kg in 90 days duration was recorded and its slow strain rate was observed using the fabricated experimental setup. The maximum displacement of the material for 3 intervals using UTM and deflection curve due to static load in 90days using the experimental setup were compared, and hence the strength degradation rate was estimated.