To solve the problem of difficult machining, the near-net shaped Al/SiCP composites with high volume fraction of SiC particles were fabricated by vacuum-pressure infiltration. The SiCP preform with a complex shape was prepared by gelcasting. Pure Al, Al4Mg, and Al4Mg2Si were used as the matrices, respectively. The results indicate that the optimal parameters of SiCP suspension in gelcasting process are pH value of 10, TMAH content of 0.5 wt.%, and solid loading of 52 vol.%. The Al matrix alloyed with Mg contributes to improving the interfacial wettability of the matrix and SiC particles, which increases the relative density of the composite. The Al matrix alloyed with Si is beneficial to inhibiting the formation of the detrimental Al4C3 phases. The Al4Mg2Si/SiCP composite exhibits high relative density of 99.2%, good thermal conductivity of 150 W·m^-1·K^-1, low coefficient of thermal expansion of 10.1×10^-6 K^-1, and excellent bending strength of 489 MPa.
In this work,the evolutions of stresses in both phases of the Al/SiCp composite subjected to thermal cycling during in situ compression test were measured using Time of Flight neutron diffraction.It was confirmed that inter-phase stresses in the studied composite can be caused by differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion for the reinforcement and matrix,leading to a different variation of phase volumes during sample heating or cooling.The results of the diffraction experiment during thermal cycling were well predicted by the Thermo-Mechanical Self-Consistent model.The experimental study of elastic-plastic deformation was carried out in situ on a unique diffractometer EPSILON-MDS(JINR in Dubna,Russia)with nine detector banks measuring interplanar spacings simultaneously in 9 orientations of scattering vector.For the first time,the performed analysis of experimental data allowed to study the evolution of full stress tensor in both phases of the composite and to consider the decomposition of this tensor into deviatoric and hydrostatic components.It was found that the novel Developed Thermo-Mechanical SelfConsistent model correctly predicted stress evolution during compressive loading,taking into account the relaxation of thermal origin hydrostatic stresses.The comparison of this model with experimental data at the macroscopic level and the level of phases showed that strengthening of the Al/SiCp composite is caused by stress transfer from the plastically deformed A12124 matrix to the elastic SiCp reinforcement,while thermal stresses relaxation does not significantly affect the overall composite properties.
Aluminium metal matrix composite is a relatively new material that has proved its position in automobile, aerospace and other engineering design applications due to its wear resistance and substantial hardness. Need for improved tribological performance has led to the design and selection of newer variants of the composite. The present investigation deals with the study of wear behaviour of Al-SiCp metal matrix composite for varying reinforcement content, applied load, sliding speed and time. Aluminium metal matrix composites reinforced with SiC particles are prepared by liquid metallurgy route using LM6 aluminium alloy and silicon carbide particles (size ~ 37 μm) by varying the weight fraction of SiC in the range of 5% - 10%. The material is synthesized by stir casting process in an electric melting furnace. The materials are then subjected to wear testing in a multitribotester using block on roller configuration. A plan of experiments based on L27 Taguchi orthogonal array is used to acquire the wear data in a controlled way. An analysis of variance is employed to investigate the influence of four controlling parameters, viz., SiC content, normal load, sliding speed and sliding time on dry sliding wear of the composites. It is observed that SiC content, sliding speed and normal load significantly affect the dry sliding wear. The optimal combination of the four controlling parameters is also obtained for minimum wear. The microstructure study of worn surfaces indicates nature of wear to be mostly abrasive.
