Microstructure evolution and hot deformation behavior of carbon nanotube reinforced 2009Al composite with bimodal grain structure

The hot deformation behaviors of the bimodal carbon nanotube reinforced 2009Al(CNT/2009Al)composite were studied by establishing processing map and characterizing the microstructure evolution.The results indicate that the grain size in the ultra-fine grained zones was stable during hot deformation,while the coarse grained zones were elongated with their long axis directions tending to be perpendicular to the compression direction.Low temperature with high strain rate(LTHR),as well as high temperature with low strain rate(HTLR)could increase the length/width ratio of the coarse grained zones.However,LTHR and HTLR could cause the instable deformation.The instable deformation at LTHR was induced by severe intragranular plastic deformation and the localized shear crack,while the instable deformation at HTLR resulted from the more deformation component at the coarse grained zones,and the micro-pore initiation due to CNT re-agglomeration at the boundaries between the coarse and the ultra-fine grained zones.

Dispersion and Damage of Carbon Nanotubes in Carbon Nanotube/7055Al Composites During High-Energy Ball Milling Process

High-energy ball milling(HEBM)combined with powder metallurgy route was used to fabricate carbon nanotube(CNT)reinforced 7055 Al composites.Two powder morphology evolution processes(HEBM-1 and HEBM-2)were designed to investigate the dispersion and damage of CNTs during HEBM process.HEBM-1 evolution process involved powder fl attening,cold-welding and fracture,while HEBM-2 evolution process consisted of powder fl attening and fracture.For HEBM-1,the repetitive fracture and cold-welding process was effective for dispersing CNTs.However,the powder fl attening process in HEBM-2 was unsuccessful in dispersing CNTs due to two reasons:(1)the thickness of fl aky Al powders exceeded the critical value,and(2)the clustered CNTs embedded in fl aky Al powders could not be unravelled.Because of the broadening of D band and the appearance of a new defect-related D’band,product of I D/I G and full width half maximum of D band,rather than I D/I G,was used to evaluate the actual damage of CNTs.It indicates that the damage of CNTs was severe in powder fl attening and fracture stages,while the damage of CNTs was small in powder cold-welding stage.