· Composites ·
Y T Zhao *, Y M Youssef **, R W Hamilton ** and P D Lee **1.
* Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China, ** Imperial College of London, UK.
67th World Foundry Congress
A novel aluminium matrix composite reinforced with a mixture of in-situ
formed ZrB2, Al2O3 and Al3Zr particulates was synthesized using a
magneto-chemical melt reaction. Using an electro-magnetic assisted melt
reaction resulted in a uniform distribution of in-situ particles with no
indication of clustering and an equivalent diameter in the range of 60 nm
to 2 µm. Using this inexpensive in-situ manufacturing route, a composite
with significantly enhanced mechanical properties was obtained. Increases
of up to 50% in σuts and 70% in σy were obtained for an Al-4Cu based
composite containing 15 vol% particulate in comparison to the
unreinforced alloy. A negligible reduction in elongation was observed (from
5.4 to 4.9%). After a T6 heat treatment, σuts and σy showed further
increases of 11% and 23%, respectively over the as-cast properties.
