Microstructure and mechanical behaviour of ultrafine grained Al-4wt%Cu-(2.5-10) Vol.% SiC metal matrix composites produced by powder compact forging

Abstract

Ultrafine grained Al-4wt%Cu-(2.5-10) vol.% SiC metal matrix composite powders were produced from a mixture of Al, Cu and SiC powders using high energy mechanical milling (HEMM). The composite powders produced were first hot pressed at 300°C with a pressure of 240 MPa to produce cylindrical powder compacts with a relative density in the range of 80-94% which decreased with increasing the SiC volume fraction. Powder compact forging was utilized to consolidate the powder compacts into nearly fully dense forged disks. With increasing the volume fraction of SiC from 2.5% to 10%, the average microhardness of the forged disks increased from 73HV to 162HV. The fracture strength of the forged disks increased from 225 to 412 MPa with increasing the volume fraction of SiC particles from 2.5 to 10%. The Al-4wt%Cu-2.5vol.%SiC forged disk did not show any macroscopic plastic yielding, while the Al-4wt%Cu-(7.5 and 10)vol.% SiC forged disk showed macroscopic plastic yielding with a small plastic strain to fracture (~1%).