Study on Processing Conditions of Aluminum Matrix Composites Reinforced with Boron Carbide Particles

Different pre-heating of boron carbide particles for reinforcement and different processing conditions were studied in this work. Being one of the most cost-effective industrial methods, conventional melt stir-casting route was utilized.Result showed that the boron carbide particles distributed well for a suitable pre-heating temperature and processed in air.No reaction product was found at the A1-B4C interfaces at the resolution limit of SEM used in that way.

Microstructure and mechanical properties characterization of AA6061/TiC aluminum matrix composites synthesized by in situ reaction of silicon carbide and potassium fluotitanate

Aluminum alloys AA6061 reinforced with various amounts （0, 2.5% and 5%, mass fraction） of TiC particles were synthesized by the in situ reaction of inorganic salt K2TiF6 and ceramic particle SiC with molten aluminum. The casting was carried out at an elevated temperature and held for a longer duration to decompose SiC to release carbon atoms. X-ray diffraction patterns of the prepared AMCs clearly revealed the formation of TiC particles without the occurrence of any other intermetallic compounds. The microstructure of the prepared AA6061/TiC AMCs was studied using field emission scanning electron microscope （FESEM） and electron backscatter diffraction （EBSD）. The in situ formed TiC particles were characterized with homogeneous distribution, clear interface, good bonding and various shapes such as cubic, spherical and hexagonal. EBSD maps showed the grain refinement action of TiC particles on the produced composites. The formation of TiC particles boosted the microhardness and ultimate tensile strength （UTS） of the AMCs.

Mechanical Properties of Boron Carbide/Reducedgraphene-oxide Composites Ceramics

Reduced graphene oxide(rGO)enhanced B_(4)C ceramics was prepared by SPS sintering,the enhancement effect of rGO on the microstructure and mechanical properties of composites was studied through experiments and numerical simulation.The results show that the composite with 2wt%rGO has the best comprehensive mechanical properties.Compared with pure boron carbide,vickers hardness and bending strength are increased by 4.8%and 21.96%,respectively.The fracture toughness is improved by 25.71%.The microstructure observation shows that the improvement of mechanical properties is mainly attributed to the pullout and bridge mechanism of rGO and the crack deflection.Based on the cohesive force finite element method,the dynamic crack growth process of composites was simulated.The energy dissipation of B_(4)C/rGO multiphase ceramics during crack propagation was calculated and compared with that of pure boron carbide ceramics.The results show that the fracture energy dissipation can be effectively increased by adding graphene.

Machining studies of die cast aluminum alloy-silicon carbide composites

Metal matrix composites （MMCs） with high specific stiffness, high strength, improved wear resistance, and thermal properties are being increasingly used in advanced structural, aerospace, automotive, electronics, and wear applications. Aluminum alloy-silicon carbide composites were developed using a new combination of the vortex method and the pressure die-casting technique in the present work. Machining studies were conducted on the aluminum alloy-silicon carbide （SiC） composite work pieces using high speed steel （HSS） end-mill tools in a milling machine at different speeds and feeds. The quantitative studies on the machined work piece show that the surface finish is better for higher speeds and lower feeds. The surface roughness of the plain aluminum alloy is better than that of the aluminum alloy-silicon carbide composites. The studies on tool wear show that flank wear increases with speed and feed. The end-mill tool wear is higher on machining the aluminum alloy-silicon carbide composites than on machining the plain aluminum alloy.

Mechanical and wear behaviour of AZ91D magnesium matrix hybrid composite reinforced with boron carbide and graphite

In this experimental study,magnesium(AZ91D)based boron carbide(B4C)and graphite(Gr)particle reinforced hybrid composite materials were manufactured by stir casting.The tribological and mechanical properties of these composite materials were investigated.The results of the tests revealed that the graphite reinforced hybrid composites exhibited a lower wear loss compared to the unreinforced AZ91D alloy and AZ91D–B4C composites.It was found that with an increase in the B4C content,the wear resistance increased monotonically with hardness and ultimate tensile strength decreased.This study revealed that the addition of both a hard reinforcement(e.g.,B4C)and soft reinforcement(e.g.,graphite)significantly improves the wear resistance of magnesium composites.These entire results designate that the hybrid magnesium composites can be considered as an excellent material where high strength,ultimate tensile strength and wear-resistant components are of major importance,primarily in the aerospace and automotive engineering sectors.

INVESTIGATION ON THE FORMATION MECHANISM OF TITANIUM CARBIDE PREPARED BY IN SITU REACTION IN MOLTEN ALUMINUM

A novel technique in which TiC particulate are prepared by an in situ reaction in molten aluminum was introduced for producing TiC/Al composite. In order to reveal the characteristics of the technique, the formation mechanism of TiC particulate prepared by this method was studied. Both theoretical and experimental results show that the TiC particulate is formed by a diffusion mechanism when the molar fraction of aluminum in the preforms is higher than 20.02%. On the contrary, the TiC particulate is formed by a solution-precipitation mechanism when the fraction of aluminum in the preforms is lower than 20.02%.

Processing, characterization, room temperature mechanical properties and fracture behavior of hot extruded multi-scale B_4C reinforced 5083 aluminum alloy based composites

Microstructural characteristics and mechanical behavior of hot extruded Al5083/B4C nanocomposites were studied.Al5083and Al5083/B4C powders were milled for50h under argon atmosphere in attrition mill with rotational speed of400r/min.For increasing the elongation,milled powders were mixed with30%and50%unmilled aluminum powder(mass fraction)with meanparticle size of>100μm and<100μm and then consolidated by hot pressing and hot extrusion with9:1extrusion ratio.Hot extrudedsamples were studied by optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy(SEM),energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),tensile and hardness tests.The results showed that mechanical milling process andpresence of B4C particles increase the yield strength of Al5083alloy from130to566MPa but strongly decrease elongation(from11.3%to0.49%).Adding<100μm unmilled particles enhanced the ductility and reduced tensile strength and hardness,but usingthe>100μm unmilled particles reduced the tensile strength and ductility at the same time.By increasing the content of unmilledparticles failure mechanism changed from brittle to ductile.

Ballistic behavior of boron carbide reinforced AA7075 aluminium alloy using friction stir processing-An experimental study and analytical approach

High strength-to-weight ratio of non-ferrous alloys, such as aluminium, magnesium and titanium alloys, are considered to be possible replacement of widely accepted steels in transportation and automobile sectors. Among these alloys, magnesium is self explosive and titanium is costlier, and aluminium is most likely to replace steels. Application of aluminium or its alloys is also thought of as an appropriate replacement in defence field, especially to enhance the easiness in mobility of combat vehicles while maintaining the same standard as that of conventional armour grade steels. Hence most of the investigations have been confined to aluminium or its alloys as base material and open an era of developing the newer composite materials to address the major limitation, i.e. tribological properties. The surface composites can be fabricated by incorporating the ceramic carbides like silicon carbide, carbides of transition metals and oxides of aluminium using surface modification techniques, such as high energy laser melt treatment, high energy electron beam irradiation and thermal spray process which are based on fusion route. These techniques yield the fusion related problems, such as interfacial reaction, pin holes, shrinkage cavities or voids and other casting related defects, and pave the way to need of an efficient technique which must be based on solid state. Recently developed friction stir processing technique was used in the present investigation for surface modification of AA7075 aluminum alloy, which is an alternative to steels. In the present investigation, 160 μm sized boron carbide powder was procured and was reduced to 60 μm and 30 μm using high energy ball mill. Subsequently these powders were used to fabricate the surface composites using friction stir processing.Ballistic performance testing as per the military standard(JIS.0108.01) was carried out. In the present work, an analytical method of predicting the ballistic behavior of surface composites was developed. This method was based on energy balance, i.e., the initial energy of impact is same as that of energy absorbed by multi layers. An attempt also has been made to validate the analytical results with the experimental findings. Variation between the analytical and experimental results may be accounted due to the assumptions considering such as isotropic behavior of target and shearing area of contact as cylindrical instead of conical interface As the analytical model yields the ballistic performance in the closer proximity of experimentally obtained, it can be considered to be an approximation to evaluate the ballistic performance of targets.

Pseudo-in-situ stir casting: a new method for production of aluminum matrix composites with bimodal-sized B_4C reinforcement

A new method was applied to produce an Al-0.5wt%Ti-0.3wt%Zr/5vol%B_4C composite via stir casting with the aim of characterizing the microstructure of the resulting composite. For the production of the composite, large B4 C particles（larger than 75 μm） with no pre-heating were added to the stirred melt. Reflected-light microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, laser particle size analysis, and image analysis using the Clemex software were performed on the cast samples for microstructural analysis and phase detection. The results revealed that as a consequence of thermal shock, B_4 C particle breakage occurred in the melt. The mechanism proposed for this phenomenon is that the exerted thermal shock in combination with the low thermal shock resistance of B_4 C and large size of the added B_4 C particles were the three key parameters responsible for B_4 C particle breakage. This breakage introduced small particles with sizes less than 10 μm and with no contamination on their surfaces into the melt. The mean particle distance measured via image analysis was approximately 60 μm. The coefficient of variation index, which was used as a measure of particle distribution homogeneity, showed some variations, indicating a relatively homogeneous distribution.

Effect of Silicon Carbide and Titanium Hydride on the Foamability of Aluminum Alloy (6061)

Aluminum foam is a light weight material with good mechanical and energy absorption properties. In this study, aluminum foam composite was fabricated using aluminum powder 6061 and silicon carbide (SiC) powder. Titanium hydride (TiH2) was used as the foaming agent. Cold compact followed by hot pressing (sintering) was used to produce the composite precursor. Foaming was carried out, following the sintering process, by heating the aluminum composite precursor to a temperature above the melting point of aluminum (Al). The linear expansion of the foam and the percent porosity were found to increase as the SiC percentage decreased from 10 to 4%, whereas the density got lower. The percent porosity and linear expansion were both found to increase as the percentage of the foaming agent was increased from 0.5 to 1.5%. Compression stress was evaluated for two different porosity values (40% and 47%), and found to be higher for the samples with lower percent porosity at the same strain value. Effect of shape memory alloy fiber, made of nickel and titanium (NiTi), on the mechanical properties was also investigated. The compression stress was higher, in the densification region, for the samples in which NiTi was used.

Improvement of Boron Carbide Mechanical Properties in B₄C-TiB₂and B₄C-ZrB₂Systems

Experimental works have been conducted the objective of which was to improve mechanical properties of boron carbide by introduction of doping elements into the system. Titanium and Zirconium were selected as doping elements, which were introduced into the system in the form of TiB2 and ZrB2. Four types of boron carbide-titanium and zirconium mixture with various titanium and zirconium diboride content were used in experiments. Optimal process parameters, as well as doping elements concentration, necessary to provide required high mechanical parameters in the composite were defined.

Processing of nanostructured metallic matrix composites by a modified accumulative roll bonding method with structural and mechanical considerations

Particulate reinforced metallic matrix composites have attracted considerable attention due to their lightweight, high strength, high specific modulus, and good wear resistance. A1/B4C composite strips were produced in this work by a modified accumulative roll bonding process where the strips were rotated 90° around the normal direction between successive passes. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses reveal the development of nanostructures in the Al matrix after seven passes. It is found that the B4C reinforcement distribution in the matrix is improved by progression of the process. Additionally, the tensile yield strength and elongation of the processed materials are increased with the increase of passes.

Effect of Al2O3sf addition on the friction and wear properties of (SiCp+Al2O3sf)/Al2024 composites fabricated by pressure infiltration

Aluminum(Al) 2024 matrix composites reinforced with alumina short fibers(Al_2O_(3sf)) and silicon carbide particles(SiC_p) as wear-resistant materials were prepared by pressure infiltration in this study. Further, the effect of Al_2O_(3sf) on the friction and wear properties of the as-synthesized composites was systematically investigated, and the relationship between volume fraction and wear mechanism was discussed. The results showed that the addition of Al_2O_(3sf), characterized by the ratio of Al_2O_(3sf) to SiC_p, significantly affected the properties of the composites and resulted in changes in wear mechanisms. When the volume ratio of Al_2O_(3sf) to SiC_p was increased from 0 to 1, the rate of wear mass loss(K_m) and coefficients of friction(COFs) of the composites decreased, and the wear mechanisms were abrasive wear and furrow wear. When the volume ratio was increased from 1 to 3, the COF decreased continuously; however, the K_m increased rapidly and the wear mechanism became adhesive wear.

Fabrication of AlN-TiC/Al composites by gas injection processing

The fabrication of AlN-TiC/Al composites by carbon- and nitrogen-containing gas injection into Al-Mg-Ti melts was studied. It was shown that AlN and TiC particles could be formed by the in situ reaction of mixture gas （N2 ＋ C2H2 ＋ NH3） with Al-Mg-Ti melts. The condition for the formation of AlN was that the treatment temperature must be higher than 1373 K, and the amounts of AlN and TiC increased with the increase of the treatment temperature and the gas injection time It was considered that AlN was formed by the direct reaction of Al with nitrogen-containing gas at the interface of the gas bubble and the melt. However, the mechanism of TiC formation is a combination mechanism of solution-precipitation and solid-liquid reaction.

Comparison of wear behaviour of LM13 Al−Si alloy based composites reinforced with synthetic(B_(4)C)and natural(ilmenite)ceramic particles

Dry sliding wear behaviour of stir-cast aluminium matrix composites(AMCs)containing LM13 alloy as matrix and ceramic particles as reinforcement was investigated.Two different ceramic particle reinforcements were used separately:synthetic ceramic particles(B_(4)C),and natural ceramic particles(ilmenite).Optical micrographs showed uniform dispersion of reinforced particles in the matrix material.Reinforced particles refined the grain size of eutectic silicon and changed its morphology to globular type.B_(4)C reinforced composites(BRCs)showed maximum improvement in hardness of AMCs.Ilmenite reinforced composites(IRCs)showed maximum reduction in coefficient of friction values due to strong matrix−reinforcement interfacial bonding caused by the formation of interfacial compounds.Dry sliding wear behaviour of composites was significantly improved as compared to base alloy.The low density and high hardness of B_(4)C particles resulted in high dislocation density around filler particles in BRCs.On the other hand,the low thermal conductivity of ilmenite particles resulted in early oxidation and formation of a tribo-layer on surface of IRCs.So,both types of reinforcements led to the improvement in wear properties of AMCs,though the mechanisms involved were very different.Thus,the low-cost ilmenite particles can be used as alternative fillers to the high-cost B_(4)C particles for processing of wear resistant composites.

Effect of graphite powder as a forming filler on the mechanical properties of SiCp/Al composites by pressure infiltration

（38vo1% SiCp ＋ 2vo1% A1203f）/2024 A1 composites were fabricated by pressure infiltration. Graphite powder was introduced as a forming filler in preform preparation, and the effects of the powder size on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the final com- posites were investigated. The results showed that the composite with 15 μm graphite powder as a forming filler had the maximum tensile strength of 506 MPa, maximum yield strength of 489 MPa, and maximum elongation of 1.2%, which decreased to 490 MPa, 430 MPa, and 0.4%, respectively, on increasing the graphite powder size from 15 to 60 μm. The composite with 60 μm graphite powder showed the highest elastic modulus, and the value decreased from 129 to 113 GPa on decreasing the graphite powder size from 60 to 15 μm. The differences between these properties are related to the different microstructures of the corresponding composites, which determine their failure modes.

Reciprocating sliding wear properties of sintered Al-B_(4)C composites

The fabrication of boron carbide reinforced aluminum matrix composites(Al-B_(4)C)with various contents of B_(4)C(1wt%,6wt%,15wt%,and 30wt%)was performed by powder metallurgy,and the influence of the content of B_(4)C on their mechanical and tribological behavior was examined.The Al-30B_(4)C composites recorded the highest density(~2.54 g/cm^(3)),lowest porosity(4%),maximum Vickers hardness(HV~75),lowest weight loss(0.4 mg),and lowest specific wear rate(0.00042 mm^(3)/(N·m))under a load of 7 N,with an enhancement of 167%in hardness,a decrease of 75.8%in weight loss,and a decrease of 76.7%in the specific wear rate compared with pure aluminum.In addition,the scanning electron microscope images of the worn surface revealed that the Al-B_(4)C composite has the narrowest wear groove of 0.85 mm at a load of 7 N,and the main wear mechanism was observed as an abrasive wear mechanism.According to the friction analysis,the coefficient of friction between surfaces increased with increasing boron carbide content and with decreasing applied load.In conclusion,B_(4)C is an effective reinforcement material in terms of tribological and mechanical performance of the Al-B_(4)C composites.

Thermal Shock Resistance of Nano SiC-BN Composites

Nano SiC - BN composite powders were prepared by dissolving analytically pure H3BO3 and CO（ NH2 ）2 with the mole ratio of 1：2.5 in the absolute alcohol, adding 80% E-SiC with 0. 2 μm average grain size while stirring, firing at 850 ℃ in nitrogen （purity： 99. 99%, pressure： O. 92 -0. 93 MPa） for 15 h. Nano SiC -BN composite specimens were prepared by hot-pressed sintering the nano SiC - BN composite powder in N2 atmosphere with 0. 92 - 0. 93 MPa and at 30 MPa axial pressure for 0. 5 - 1 h at 1 750 - 1 800 ℃. The thermal shock resistance of nano SiC -BN composites was studied by three-point bending, TEM and SEM. The results show that, adding BN can decrease the modulus of elasticity of SiC materials, which improves thermal shock resistance;furthermore, because of the large difference of thermal expansion coefficient between matrix SiC and second phase hexa-BN, thermal mismatch effect results in intercrystalline delamination of h-BN grains and forming many micropores in composite ceramic, which can relax the thermal expansion caused by high tempera- ture effectively, and improve the thermal shock resistance significantly.

Abrasive wear behaviors of high velocity arc sprayed iron aluminum composite coatings

The High Velocity Arc Spraying （HVAS） technology was used to prepare Fe-Al composite coatings by the adding of different elements into cored wires to obtain different Fe-Al coatings. The added compounds do great effect on the properties of the composite coatings. The microstructures and abrasive wear performances of the coatings were assessed by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and THT07-135 high temperature wear equipment. It was found that the adding of Cr3C2 can greatly increase the room temperature wear behavior, and Fe-Al/WC coatings have adapting periods at the beginning of wear experiment. With the rise of temperature, the wear resistance of Fe-AI/Cr3C2 coatings becomes bad from room temperature to 250℃, and then stable from 250℃ to 550℃; the wear resistance of Fe-Al/WC becomes well with the rise of temperature. The adding of Cr and Ni can also improve wear performances of Fe-Al composite coatings.