Development and Characterization of Aluminium-Based Metal Matrix Composites

Aluminum based metal matrix composites were fabricated using stir casting where silicon carbide and alumina were the reinforcements. Different types of properties (physical-density, mechanical-tensile, hardness, chemical-corrosion etc.) were measured and compared with base metals/alloys. The properties were significantly varied. The highest density was obtained for pure aluminium with 5% Al2O3 whereas the lowest was obtained for AA-4032 alloy. The highest hardness was obtained for AA-4032 with 5% Al2O3 whereas the lowest was obtained for pure Al with 5% Al2O3. The highest strength was obtained for AA-6061 with 5% coarse SiC whereas the lowest was obtained for pure Al. The highest impact strength was obtained for AA-4032 with 5% Al2O3 whereas the lowest was obtained for AA-6061. The corrosion resistance of all composites was lower than that of the base materials.

Effect of MoSi_2 content on dielectric and mechanical properties of MoSi_2/Al_2O_3 composite coatings

Molybdenum disilicide （MoSi2） sheath and aluminum oxide （Al2O3） core blended powders were fabricated by spray drying. A derived coating material was produced for the application as microwave absorbers using the as prepared powders by atmospheric plasma spray （APS） technology. The effects of MoSi2/Al2O3 mass ratio on the dielectric and physical mechanical properties of the composite coatings were investigated. When the MoSi2 content of the composites increases from 0 to 45%, the flexure strength and fracture toughness improve from 198 to 324 MPa and 3.05 to 4.82 MPa-m1/2 then decline to 310 MPa and 4.67 MPa-m1/2, respectively. The dielectric loss tangent increases with increasing MoSi2 content, and the real part of permittivity decreases conversely over the frequency range of 8.2-12.4 GHz. These effects are due to the agglomeration of early molten MoSi2 particles and the increase of the electrical conductivity with increasing MoSi2 content.

Microstructure and Tribological Behavior of Al2O3 Particle Reinforced Al Matrix Composites Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering

Nanoparticles and microparticles reinforced Al matrix composites were fabricated by spark plasma sintering, and the microstructure and tribological properties were investigated systemically. The nano-Al2O3 particle and micro-Al2O3 particle uniformly dispersed in Al matrix composites. The introduction of nanoparticles is beneficial to the decrease of friction coefficient and wear rate, while microparticles are responsible to the high friction coefficient, resulting in the abrasive wear. With the introduction of both nanoparticles and microparticles, their synergic effect will lead to the variation of tribological behavior.

JOINING MECHANISMS OF β"-Al_2O_3 CERAMIC AND PYREX GLASS TO Al MATRIX COMPOSITE

The bonding of β″-Al2O3 and pyrex glass to A1 matrix composites by anodic bonding process is achieved. The microstructure of the bonded interface and the joining mechanisms are analyzed with scanning electron microscope （SEM）, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer （EDX）. It is observed that the bonding region across the interface consists of the metal layer, oxide transitional layer and the ceramic layer, with the transitional layer composed of surface region and sub-surface region. The bonding process can mainly be categorized into anodic bonding process and solid state diffusing process. The pile-up of the ions and its drift in the interface area are the main reasons for anode oxidation and joining of the interface. The temperature, voltage and the drift ions in the ceramic or glass during the bonding process are the essential conditions to solid state diffusing and oxide bonding at the interface. The voltages, temperature, pressure as well as the surface state are the main factors that influence the anodic bonding.

Parameter optimization for plasma-sprayed Al2O3p/Al composite coatings on AZ31 magnesium alloy

Al2O3p/Al composite coatings were prepared on the surface of AZ31 magnesium alloy by plasma spraying technology with mixed powders of Al and Al2O3. An orthogonal test containing six factors and five levels was carried out to acquire the optimum technical parameters. Mierostruetures and properties of the composite coatings were studied. The results show that the coatings consist of Al2O3 particulates distributed uniformly and Al matrix, and the interface between the particulate and matrix is continuous, compact and clean. With increasing the mass fraction of Al2O3 in the mixed powders, the volume fraction of Al2O3 in the coatings iacreases. The Al2O3p/Al composite coating with 14% Al2O3 volume fraction has more compact microstrueture and more satisfactory properties.

Corrosion Behavior of Electrodepositing Ni/Al_2O_3 Composite Coatings under the Presence of NaCl Deposit

The morphology and corrosion behavior of Ni/Al2O3 composite coatings prepared using double-pulsed electrodepositing technique after oxidized under 800 ℃ NaCl deposit in air environment were analyzed by scanning electrical microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and energy dispersive spectrum(EDS). The results showed that the corrosion of all composite coatings was accelerated under NaCl deposits, and the corrosion products were rather porous with poor adherence to the matrix. Al2O3 particles in the coatings can refine the grain size and improve the high temperature corrosion resistance of the coatings. Within the test scope, the more Al2O3 particles in the coatings, the lower corrosion rates could be obtained, and the corrosion mechanism was also discussed.

Effect of Interfacial Bonding on the Toughening of Al_2O_3/Ni Ceramic Matrix Composites

The main Iimitation to the toughening of the α-Al2O3/Ni composite is the poor bonding atthe interface. which causes the nickel particles to be pulled-out during crack propagation with-out obvious plastic deformation. A proper control of oxygen content at the Al2O3-Ni interfacecan promote wetting at the intedece, and produce a mechanically interlocked and chemically strengthened intedece, causing most of the nickel particles to be stretched to failure and to expe-rience severe plastic deformation during crack propagation in the composite. Fracture toughnesstesting using a modified double cantilever beam method with in situ observation of crack prop-agation in a scanning electron microscope shows that the composite with the strengthenedinterface has a more desirable R-curve behaviour and a higher fracture toughness value than thenormal composite.

Preparation of Al_2O_3/Au nano-laminated composite coatings and their oxidation resistance on stainless steel

Al2O3/Au nano-laminated composite coatings were prepared by means of magnetron sputtering. The coating was compact and comprised of nano-laminated Al2O3 and Au layers. High temperature cyclic oxidation test was employed to investigate the oxidation resistance of the composite coatings. The results revealed that the applied Al2O3/Au nano-laminated composite coatings improved the oxidation and spallation resistance of the stainless steel substrate significantly. The mechanism accounting for oxidation resistance was related with the suppression of inward oxygen diffusion and selective oxidation of Cr in the substrate. The mechanism accounting for spallation resistance was attributed to the relaxation of thermal stress by the nano-laminated structure.

THE INTERFACIAL BEHAVIORS OF ALUMINUM MATRIX COMPOSITE IN DIFFERENT WELDING METHODS

Non-interlayer liquid phase diffusion welding (China Patent) and laser welding methods for aluminum matrix composite are mainly described in this paper. In the non-interlayer liquid phase diffusion welding, the key processing parameters affecting the strength of joint is welding temperature. When temperature rises beyond solidus temperature, the bonded line vanishes. The strength of joint reaches the maximum and becomes constant when welding temperature is close to liquid phase temperature. Oxide film in the interface is no longer detected by SEM in the welded joint. With this kind of technique, particle reinforced aluminum matrix composite Al2 O3p/6061Al is welded successfully, and the joint strength is about 80% of the strength of composite (as-casted). In the laser welding, results indicate that because of the huge specific surface area of the reinforcement, the interfacial reaction between the matrix and the reinforcement is restrained intensively at certain laser power and pulsed laser beam. The laser pulse frequency directly affects the reinforcement segregation and the reinforcement distribution in the weld, so that the weldability of the composite could be improved by increasing the laser pulse frequency. The maximum strength of the weld can reach 70% of the strength of the parent.

Influence of Adding Ti Powder in Preform on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al_2O_3p/Steel Composites by Squeeze Casting

To improve the mechanical properties of alumina particulates reinforced steel matrix composite, Ti powder was added into the alumina preform, a 5140 steel matrix composite was fabricated by squeeze casting, and the influences of Ti powder on the microstructure, hardness and bending strength of the composite were investigated, compared with the composite without adding Ti powder. Applied Ti powder and alumina particulates were 10-25 μm and 100-180 μm in size, respectively. Both composites were successfully fabricated, however Ti powder addition increased the infiltration thickness of the composite. In the Ti contained composite, a TiC film in micron scale is formed on the surface of alumina particles, many TiC aggregates are dispersed in the steel matrix without obvious remaining Ti powder. The hardness and the three-point bending strength of the composite reach 49.5 HRC and 1 018 MPa, respectively, which are 17.9% and 52.4% higher than those of the composite in the absence of Ti addition. Fracture morphology shows that the debonding of alumina particulates is eliminated for the composite in the presence of Ti addition. Sessile drop test shows the average wetting angle between 5140 steel and that of Ti coated Al2O3 is about 82.15°, much lower than the wetting angle 150° between steel and pure Al2O3. Therefore, the increase in the mechanical properties of the composite is attributed to the improvement of Al2O3 p/steel interface wetting and bonding by adding Ti powder in the preform.

Aluminum matrix composites reinforced by in situ Al_2O_3 and Al_3Zr particles fabricated via magnetochemistry reaction

Aluminum matrix composites reinforced by in situ Al2O3 and Al3Zr particles are fabricated from A356-Zr(CO3)2 system via magnetochemistry reaction,and the morphologies,sizes and distributions of the in situ particles as well as the microstructures,mechanical mechanisms of the composites are investigated by XRD,SEM,TEM and in situ tensile tests.The results indicate that with the pulsed magnetic field assistance,the morphologies of the in situ particles are mainly with ball-shape,the sizes are in nanometer scale and the distributions in the matrix are uniform.The interfaces between the in situ particles and the aluminum matrix are net and no interfacial outgrowth is observed.These are due to the strong vibration induced by the applied magnetic field in the aluminum melt,which in turn,accelerates the melt reactions.The effects of the magnetic field on the above contributions are discussed in detail.

Laser Remelting of Plasma Sprayed NiCrAlY and NiCrAlY-Al_2O_3 Coatings

Two types of plasma sprayed coatings (NiCrAlY and NiCrAlY-A12O3) were remelted by a 5 kW cw CO2 laser. With increasing laser power and decreasing traverse speed in the ranges of 200-700 W and 5-30 mm/s respectively, the melted track grew in width and depth. In the optimum range of laser parameters, a homogeneous remelted layer without voids, cavities, unmelted particles and microcracks was formed. On the surface of remelted layers, Al203 and YAIO3 were detected. As a result of isothermal oxidation tests, weight gains of laser remelted coatings were obviously lower than that only plasma sprayed, especially laser remelted NiCrAlY-Al2O3 coatings. The effects of laser remelting and incorporation of A12O3 second phase in N1CrAlY matrix on high temperature oxidation resistance were discussed.

Influence of Reinforcement Type on Microstructure, Hardness, and Tensile Properties of an Aluminum Alloy Metal Matrix Composite

This paper presents the results of the comparative study of as cast microstructures and mechanical properties viz yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, elastic modulus, percentage elongation, hardness, percentage porosity and fracture characteristic of 5 wt% SiC and Al2O3 particulate reinforced Al-4% Cu-2.5% Mg matrix composites. These composite materials were prepared through stir casting process. Quantitative metallographic techniques were utilized to determine the average grain size of particles. The microstructures and tensile fracture characteristic of the representative samples of the composites were examined using optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The experimental results demonstrate a fairly uniform distribution of 50.8 μm Al2O3 and 49.2 μm SiC spherical particles with some clustering in few areas. At the interfaces of Al2O3 and the matrix, MgO and MgAl2O4 were observed. Similarly, Al4C3 was formed at the interfaces between SiC and the matrix. The mechanical property test results revealed that, for the same weight percentage of reinforcement, Al-4% Cu-2.5% Mg/5 wt% SiC composite exhibit a 15.8%, 16.4%, 4.97% and 10.8% higher yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, elastic modulus, and hardness, respectively. On the other hand, even if some porosity was observed in the Al2O3 reinforced composite, the percentage elongation (ductility) was 31% higher than that of SiC rein-forced composite. The tensile specimen of SiC reinforced composite failed in a brittle fashion without neck formation, whereas the Al2O3 reinforced composite failed in a ductile fashion with noticeable neck formation.

Laser Cladding Al-Si/Al_2O_3-TiO_2 Composite Coatings on AZ31B Magnesium Alloy

To improve the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys, a 5 kW continuous wave CO2 laser was used to investigate the laser surface cladding on AZ31 B magnesium alloys with Al-Si/Al2O3-TiO2 composite powders. A detailed microstructure, chemical composition, and phase analysis of the composite coatings were studied by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The laser cladding shows good metallurgical bonding with the substrate. The composite coatings are composed of Mgl7Al12, Al3Mg2, Mg2Si, Al2O3, and TiO2 phases. Compared to the average microhardness （50HV0.05） of the AZ3 1 B substrate, that of the composite coatings （230HV0.05） is improved significantly. The wear resistances of the surface layers were evaluated in detail. The results demonstrate that the wear resistances of the laser surface-modified samples are considerably improved compared to the substrate. It also show that the composite coatings exhibit better corrosion resistance than that of the substrate in 3.5wt% NaCI solution.

A facile method for fabrication of nano-structured Ni-Al_2O_3 graded coatings: Structural characterization

Powder charges of micron-size Ni and Al2O3were utilized to deposit nano-structured Ni-Al2O3composite coatings on analuminum plate fixed at the top end of a milling vial using a planetary ball mill.Composite coatings were fabricated using powdermixtures with a wide range of Ni/Al2O3mass ratio varying from1:1to plain Ni.XRD,SEM and TEM techniques were employed tostudy the structural characteristics of the coatings.It was found that the composition of the starting mixture strongly affects the Al2O3content and the microstructure of the final coating.Mixtures containing higher contents of Al2O3yield higher volume fractions of theAl2O3particles in the coating.Though Ni-Al2O3composite coatings with about50%of Al2O3particles were successfully deposited,well-compacted and free of cracks and/or voids coatings included less than20%(volume fraction)of Al2O3particles which weredeposited from powder mixtures with Ni/Al2O3mass ratios of4:1or higher.Moreover,mechanical and metallurgical bondings arethe main mechanisms of the adhesion of the coating to the Al substrate.Finally,functionally graded composite coatings withnoticeable compaction and integrity were produced by deposition of two separate layers under identical coating conditions.

Fabrication and Studying the Mechanical Properties of A356 Alloy Reinforced with Al₂O₃-10% Vol. ZrO₂Nano-particles through Stir Casting

Al2O3-ZrO2 with a high level of hardness and toughness is known as ceramic steel. Due to its unique properties it can be used as a reinforcement in fabrication of metal matrix composites. In this study, nanoparticles of Al2O3-10% ZrO2 with an average size of 80 nm were used to fabricate Al matrix composites containing 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 wt.% of the reinforcement. The fabrication route was stir casting at 850?C. There is no report about usage of this reinforcement in fabrication of composites in the literature. The microstructures of the as-cast composites were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Density measurement, hardness and tensile properties were carried out to identify the mechanical properties of the composites. The results revealed that with increasing the reinforcement content, density decreased while yield, ultimate tensile strength and compressive strength increased. Also, hardness increased by increasing the reinforcement content up to 1 wt.% Al2O3-10% ZrO2 but it decreased in the samples containing higher amounts of reinforcement.

Theoretical Analysis on Tensile Strength of ZA22/Al_2O_3 Short Fiber Composite Added with Ce

The tensile strength of squeeze casting ZA22/Al 2O 3 short fiber composite was measured with autograph AG 10TA universal testing machines made in Japan. The experimental results were analysed with the rule of mixture(ROM) model modified by Friend. The theoretical analysis agree well with the experimental results. Under the test condition of this study, the strengthening critical fiber volume fraction predicted is 34 5%. Because fiber volume fraction in the composite is under this value, the tensile strength of the composite is lower than that of ZA22 alloy matrix.

Thermal shock fatigue behavior of TiC/Al_2O_3 composite ceramics

The thermal shock fatigue behaviors of pure hot-pressed alumina and 30 wt.% TiC/Al2O3 composites were studied. The effect of TiC and Al2O3 starting particle size on the mechanical properties of the composites was discussed. Indentation-quench test was conducted to evaluate the effect of thermal fatigue temperature difference （ΔT） and number of thermal cycles （Ⅳ） on fatigue crack growth （Δa）. The mechanical properties and thermal fatigue resistance of TiC/Al203 composites are remarkably improved by the addition of TiC. The thermal shock fatigue of monolithic alumina and TiC/Al2O3 composites is due to a ＂true＂ cycling effect （thermal fatigue）. Crack deflection and bridging are the predominant reasons for the improvement of thermal shock fatigue resistance of the composites.

TC4表面等离子沉积Al2O3/MoS2涂层及性能分析

利用阴极等离子电解沉积技术在Ti6Al4V表面制备了Al2O3/MoS2减磨耐蚀复合涂层。利用XRD、SEM、DES等检测手段分析了脉冲电压对复合涂层的形貌、物相组成及涂层摩擦学/腐蚀性能的影响。结果表明,随着电压的升高,涂层中α-Al2O3硬质相的质量分数增加,但涂层表面粗糙度和孔径增大,导致MoS2的质量分数先增加然后下降。在干滑擦磨损试验中,300V以下的试样摩擦系数和磨损率最低,过高电压不利于耐磨性能的提高。腐蚀测试表明涂层样品比未处理的样品具有更好的耐腐蚀性。

Al-Si/Al_2O_3 in situ composite prepared by displacement reaction of CuO/Al system

Al2O3 particle-reinforced ZL109 composite was prepared by in situ reaction between CuO and Al2O3 . The microstructure was observed by means of OM, SEM and TEM. The Al2O3 particles in sub-micron sizes distribute uniformly in the matrix, and the Cu displaced from the in situ reaction forms net-like alloy phases with other alloy elements. The hardness and the tensile strength of the composites at room temperature have a slight increase as compared to that of the matrix. However, the tensile strength at 350℃ has reached 90.23 MPa, or 16.92 MPa higher than that of the matrix. The mechanism of the reaction in the CuO/AI system was studied by using of differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） and thermodynamic calculation. The reaction between CuO and Al involves two steps. First, CuO reacts with Al to form Cu20 and Al2O3 at the melting temperature of the matrix alloy, and second, Cu20 reacts with Al to form Cu and Al2O3 at a higher temperature. At ZL109 casting temperature of 750- 780 ℃, the second step can also take place because of the effect of exothermic reaction of the first step.