The indentation hardness of Al-SiCp metal-matrix composites synthesized by stir casting process was investigated. Stir casting method was selected as the casting method due to its simplicity, flexibility and applicability. This method allows a conventional metal processing route to be used which minimizes the cost of the product. The silicon carbide particles to be used were first ball milled for size reduction. These particles were then sieved in a mechanical shaker to obtain different particle sizes. SiC particles of size 74µm corresponding to mesh 200 were selected for addition to the Al matrix. The composite was prepared by adding preheated SiC particles to the Aluminium melt via stir casting. Test specimens were prepared by varying the wt% of SiC (1%, 3%, 5%, 7% and 9%). As the SiCp additions were increased, the hardness of the composite increased to a large extent. This can be attributed to the uniform distribution of the SiC particles in the Al matrix via stir casting method.
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