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Effects of Sintering and Extrusion on the Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of a SiC/Al-Cu Composite

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Abstract

This article studied the effects of sintering and extrusion on the microstructures and mechanical properties of SiC particle reinforced Al-Cu alloy composite produced by powder metallurgy method. It has been shown that both extrusion and increasing sintering temperature can significantly improve the strength and plasticity of the composite. The extrusion and increase of the sintering temperature can break up the oxide coating on the matrix powder surfaces, decrease the number of pores, accelerate the elements’ diffusion and increase the density and particle interfacial bonding strength, thus significantly improve the mechanical properties of the composite. The strength and hardness of the composite increase and the elongation decreases with increasing the aging time at under-aged stage, while the strength and hardness start to decrease and the elongation starts to increase with increasing the aging time at over-aged stage due to the formation and growth of the secondary strengthening precipitates in the Al-Cu matrix.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (50801068, 50831007), Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (200805331044) and the Planned Science and Technology Project of Hunan Province (2010FJ3140). One of the authors would also like to thank the support from Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation (200801345).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Chao Sun, Rujuan Shen & Min Song

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  1. Chao Sun
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  2. Rujuan Shen
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  3. Min Song
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Correspondence to Min Song.

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Sun, C., Shen, R. & Song, M. Effects of Sintering and Extrusion on the Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of a SiC/Al-Cu Composite. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 21, 373–381 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-011-9940-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-011-9940-1

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