Mechanical behaviour of polycrystalline BeO,Al2O3 and AlN at high pressure

The mechanical behaviour of various types of BeO, Al₂O₃, and AlN have been investigated at confining pressures up to 1.25 GPa, at 25° C, and at strain rates of 3 to 7×10^–5 sec^–1. The stress-strain data taken in uniaxial compressive-stress loading indicate the BeO aggregates undergo a transition from brittle fracture at low pressures to plastic flow at high pressures. Depending on the fabrication process, this transition pressure in BeO occurs at 0.4 to 0.7 GPa. Concurrently, the ultimate compressive strength of BeO increases from 1.0 to 1.9 GPa at 0.1 MPa pressure to over 4.0 GPa at 1.O GPa. Alumina remains brittle at all pressures up to 1.25 GPa; its strength increases from 4.5 GPa at 0.1 MPa pressure to over 6.0 GPa at 1.25 GPa. Aluminium nitride behaves similarly to BeO, having a brittle-ductile transition at 0.55 GPa. Its ultimate strength increases from 3.2 GPa at 0.1 MPa pressure to 4.7 GPa at 0.8 GPa. The distortional strain energy (proportional to the area under the stress-strain curve) absorbed by each material during compression at pressure was calculated and compared to available data from the literature. Alumina shows a degraded energy absorption with pressure, but both BeO and AlN yield a strongly enhanced performance at moderate pressures. Beryllium oxide and AlN thus appear to be promising structural materials for certain applications where high strengths and ductilities are required at moderate pressures.     

Measurement of interface strength in Al/SiC particulate composites

Fracture in particulate-reinforced metal-matrix composites is initiated by particulate cracking and interface decohesion, and crack propagation occurs through the matrix, particulate and interface. A ‘critical stress partition’ model is described which considers the proportions of matrix, particulate and interface for which the fracture stress is exceeded. Tensile tests and microhardness measurements are reported for SiC/Al metal-matrix composites having particulate volume fractions of 0–20%. Measurements of the fractions of cracked and interface-debonded particulate before and after final fracture are combined with the fracture model to calculate the interface strength, σ_int′. The values of σ_int′ obtained are 469 MPa for uncoated SiC particulate and 438 MPa for particulate coated with a thin layer of Al₂O₃ to prevent interface reaction. The tensile results indicate that the weaker interfaces promote interface debonding and increase percent elongation.     

Microstructure,mechanical properties,and in vitro biocompatibility of spark plasma sintered hydroxyapatite–aluminum oxide–carbon nanotube composite

In the present work, HA reinforced with Al₂O₃ and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is processed using spark plasma sintering (SPS). Vickers micro indentation and nanoindentation of the samples revealed contrary mechanical properties (hardness of 4.0, 6.1, and 4.4 GPa of HA, HA–Al₂O₃ and HA–Al₂O₃–CNT samples at bulk scale, while that of 8.0, 9.0, and 7.0 GPa respectively at nanoscale), owing to the difference in the interaction of the indenter with the material at two different length scales. The addition of Al₂O₃ reinforcement has been shown to enhance the indentation fracture toughness of HA matrix from 1.18 MPa m^1/2 to 2.07 MPa m^1/2. Further CNT reinforcement has increased the fracture toughness to 2.3 times (2.72 MPa m^1/2). In vitro biocompatibility of CNT reinforced HA–Al₂O₃ composite has been evaluated using MTT assay on mouse fibroblast L929 cell line. Cell adhesion and proliferation have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and have been quantified using UV spectrophotometer. The combination of cell viability data as well as microscopic observations of cultured surfaces suggests that SPS sintered HA–Al₂O₃–CNT composites exhibit the ability to promote cell adhesion and proliferation on their surface and prove to be promising new biocompatible materials.     

Fabrication of nano-sized Al2O3 reinforced casting aluminum composite focusing on preparation process of reinforcement powders and evaluation of its properties

In this study, a novel approach was used to fabricate Al₂O₃ nanoparticle reinforced aluminum composites to avoid agglomeration of nanoparticles in matrix. Al₂O₃ nanoparticles were separately milled with aluminum and copper powders at different milling durations and incorporated into A356 alloy via stir casting method. The effects of milling process and milling time on mechanical properties of the composites were evaluated by hardness, tensile, and compression tests. Based on the results, some of the composites, reinforced with Al₂O₃-metallic mixed powders, showed higher mechanical performance compared with that of the pure Al₂O₃ nanoparticle reinforced composite. This enhancement is related to uniform distribution of individual nanoparticles and grain refinement of A356 matrix, shown in microstructural studies. Moreover, the results showed that an increase in milling time, led to a gradual decrease in mechanical performance of the samples. It can be related to further oxidation of metallic powders that can act as inclusions and also further probable contamination of nanoparticles with increase in milling time. Studies on the fracture surfaces revealed that the failure of matrix was the basic mechanism of fracture in the composites. Agglomerated nanoparticles were observed on dendrites in the fracture surface of the Al₂O₃–Al reinforcement samples.     

Preparation and mechanical properties of high-purity Al2O3 fibre/Al2O3 matrix composite

Al₂O₃ matrix composites with unidirectionally oriented high-purity Al₂O₃ fibre with and without carbon coating, were fabricated by the filament-winding method, followed by hot-pressing at 1573–1773 K. The composite with non-coated Al₂O₃ fibre exhibited a bending strength (594 MPa) comparable to that of monolithic Al₂O₃ (589 MPa). While the composite with a carbon-coated fibre had lower strength (477 MPa), it showed improved fracture toughness (6.5 MPa m^1/2) compared to the composite with an uncoated fibre (4.5 MPa m^1/2) and monolithic Al₂O₃ (5.5 MPa m^1/2). This toughness enhancement was explained based on the increased crack extension resistance caused by the fibre pull-out observed by SEM at the notch tip. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of hot extruded 6016 aluminum alloy/graphite composites

The incorporation of graphite particles into AA6016 aluminum alloy matrix to fabricate metal/ceramic composites is still a great challenge and various parameters should be considered. In this study, dense AA6016 aluminum alloy/(0-20 wt%) graphite composites have successfully been fabricated by powder metallurgy process. At first, the mixed aluminum and graphite powders were cold compacted at 200 MPa and then sintered at 500 ℃ for 1 h followed by hot extrusion at 450 ℃. The influence of ceramic phases(free graphite and in-situ formed carbides) on microstructure, physical and mechanical properties of the produced composites were finally investigated. The results show that the fabricated composites have a relative density of over 98%. SEM observations indicate that the graphite has a good dispersion in the alloy matrix even at high graphite content. Hardness of all the produced composites was higher than that of aluminum alloy matrix. No cracks were observed at strain less than 23% for all hot extruded materials.Compressive strength, reduction in height, ultimate tensile stress, fracture stress, yield stress, and fracture strain of all Al/graphite composites were determined by high precision second order equations. Both compressive and ultimate tensile strengths have been correlated to microstructure constituents with focusing on the in-situ formed ceramic phases, silicon carbide(SiC) and aluminum carbide(Al_4 C_3). The ductile fracture mode of the produced composites became less dominant with increasing free graphite content and in-situ formed carbides. Wear resistance of Al/graphite composites was increased with increasing graphite content. Aluminum/20 wt% graphite composite exhibited superior wear resistance over that of AA6016 aluminum alloy.     

The thermal expansion and mechanical properties of high reinforcement content SiCp/Al composites fabricated by squeeze casting technology

With mixing different sized SiC particles, high reinforcement content SiCp/Al composites (V_p=50, 60 and 70%) for electronic packaging applications were fabricated by squeeze casting technology. The composites were free of porosity and SiC particles distributed uniformly in the composite. The mean linear coefficients of thermal expansion (20–100 °C) of SiCp/Al composites ranged from 8.3 to 10.8×10⁻⁶/°C and decreased with an increase in volume fraction of SiC content. The experimental coefficients of thermal expansion agreed well with predicted values based on Kerner's model. The Brinell hardness increased from 188.6 to 258.0, and the modulus increased from 148 to 204 GPa for the corresponding composites. The bending strengths were larger than 370 MPa, but no obvious trend between bending strength and SiC content was observed.     

Microstructure and mechanical behaviour of (Fe88Si12)95Al5 alloy prepared by aluminothermics

Abstract

The (Fe₈₈Si₁₂)₉₅Al₅ alloy was prepared by an aluminothermics. The (Fe₈₈Si₁₂)₉₅Al₅ alloy is composed of spheroidic α-Fe(Si,Al) precipitate with size of 20–50 nm and γ-Fe(Si,Al) matrix. The yield strength and fracture strain in compression of the (Fe₈₈Si₁₂)₉₅Al₅ alloy are 1500 MPa and 23% respectively. The shear bands propagating in the compressive deformation are arrested by the precipitation particles that resulted in large ductility and high strength simultaneously.     

Toughness and fatigue of encapsulation-processed silicon carbide-polymer matrix particulate composites

A new process for composite fabrication was developed which improves distribution of the particulate reinforcing phase by polymer encapsulation of the particulate prior to consolidation. The effect of such processing on the fatigue-crack propagation and fracture toughness behaviour of particulate thermoplastic composites was investigated. Composites of several particulate size ranges were fabricated into disc-shaped, compact tension specimens and tested under cyclic and monotonie loading conditions. For comparison, a composite was also fabricated using a standard casting technique. The observed fatigue-crack growth rates spanned three orders of magnitude (10^–11 to 10^–9 m per cycle) over an applied stress intensity range, K, of 0.3 to 1.1 MPa m^1/2. The measured fracture toughness values ranged from 0.69 to 2.95 MPa m^1/2. Comparison of the two processing techniques indicated that encapsulation processing increased the fracture toughness of the composite by approximately 33%; however, the fatigue-crack growth behaviour was unaffected. In addition, a trend of increasing crack growth resistance (toughness) with increasing reinforcement particle size was observed. These results are discussed in the light of crack shielding and bridging models for composite toughening.     

Mechanical properties of Al2O3 particle-Y-TZP matrix composite and its toughening mechanism

Dense Al₂O₃ particle-Y-TZP matrix (Al₂O₃<40 vol%) composite was prepared by pressureless sintering at 1550°C. Composites with 10–30 vol% Al₂O₃ particles showed enhanced fracture toughness, bending strength and Vicker's hardness as compared to single-phase Y-TZP. The highest strength (1150 MPa) and highest toughness (12.4 MPa m^1/2) were obtained for the composite containing 10 vol% Al₂O₃. It was found that, in addition to the contribution by the crack-deflection effect, the enhanced phase transformation from tetragonal to monoclinic during fracture was the main toughening mechanism in operation in the composites.     

Fabrication of 6061 aluminium alloy/Al18B4O33(w) composite by using sol–gel alumina binder

Abstract

For fabrication of aluminium borate whisker (Al₁₈B₄O_33(w)) reinforced 6061 aluminium alloy composites, a sol–gel alumina binder instead of conventional silica binder was used for preparing the whisker preforms of the squeeze cast composites. The results show that a sound whisker preform and a uniform composite can be made by this method. Unlike the reactive silica binder, the sol–gel alumina binder is rather stable throughout the entire high temperature fabrication process. Under appropriate conditions, the sol–gel alumina binder can also serve as a thermal barrier for minimising interfacial reactions between aluminium borate whiskers and the matrix alloy. With a binder concentration of 0.6 mol L^-1, the ultimate tensile strength of the composite is as high as 277.6 MPa at room temperature and moderate at elevated temperatures. The tensile fracture of the alumina bound composite shows a mixed mode of dimple fracture and interface debonding.     

Investigation on in situ Al0.5FeSi0.5/Al composites prepared by transient liquid phase sintering

In situ Al_0.5FeSi_0.5/Al composites were prepared by transient liquid-phase sintering. The hardness and wear resistance of the composites were investigated with an XHV-1000 microhardness tester and an M-2000 wear tester. Results show that with increased sintering temperature and holding time, the in situ needle-like reinforcement is transformed into short, bar-like, massive particles. At a sintering temperature of 510 °C and holding time of 4 h, the reinforcement consists of short, bar-like Al_0.5FeSi_0.5; moreover, the hardness of the in situ Al_0.5FeSi_0.5/Al composites peaks to a value eight times that of pure aluminum and 2.5 times that of Al–Si alloy. Accordingly, the wear resistance of the composites is the highest, i.e., 6.6 that of pure Al and 4.5 times that of Al–Si alloy.     

Simultaneously enhanced tensile and compressive response of AZ31–NanoAl<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>–AA5052 macrocomposite

New bimetal AZ31–Al₂O₃/AA5052 macrocomposite comprising (a) Al₂O₃ nanoparticle-reinforced magnesium alloy AZ31 shell and (b) aluminum alloy AA5052 millimeter-scale core reinforcement was fabricated using solidification processing followed by hot coextrusion. Microstructural characterization revealed more rounded intermetallic particle of decreased size, reasonable Al₂O₃ nanoparticle distribution, and non-dominant (0 0 0 2) texture in the longitudinal and transverse directions in the AZ31–Al₂O₃ nanocomposite shell. Interdiffusion of Mg and Al across the core–shell macrointerface into each other was also significant. Compared to monolithic AZ31, the AZ31–Al₂O₃ shell exhibited significantly higher hardness (+33%). In tension, the presence of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (in the AZ31 shell) and AA5052 core significantly increased stiffness (+39%), yield strength (0.2% TYS) (+9%), ultimate strength (UTS) (+19%), average failure strain (+7%), and work of fracture (WOF) (+27%) of AZ31. In compression, the presence of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (in the AZ31 shell) and AA5052 core significantly increased yield strength (0.2% CYS) (+58%), ultimate strength (UCS) (+4%), average failure strain (+11%), and WOF (+49%) of AZ31. The effect of joint presence of (a) Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (in the AZ31 shell) and (b) AA5052 millimeter-scale core on tensile and compressive properties of AZ31 is investigated in this article.     

The microstructure and the mechanical property of AZ91D solidified under GPa-grade high-pressure

High-pressure (2–4?GPa) solidified AZ91D alloy was prepared and the microstructure was investigated by X-ray energy diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy. The room-temperature compression deformation behaviour was also studied. The results showed that the high-pressure solidified AZ91D alloy was composed of nanometre β-Mg₁₇Al₁₂ and equiaxed α-Mg dendrites. The average size of α-Mg grains decreased from 395?±?5?µm (atmosphere pressure) to 12?±?3?µm (4?GPa) and the solubility of Al in α-Mg increased to 6.25?wt-% at 4?GPa. The compression strength of 402?MPa and the relative compression ratio of 27% (4?GPa) were 50% and 93% higher than the original AZ91D. Meanwhile, high pressure can also decreased the corrosion rate from 0.0675?mA/cm² (atmosphere pressure) to 0.0122?mA/cm² (4?GPa).     

Microstructure,tensile properties and fracture behaviour of Al2O3 particulate-reinforced aluminium alloy metal matrix composites

The tensile deformation and fracture behaviour of aluminium alloy 2014 discontinuously-reinforced with particulates of Al₂O₃ was studied with the primary objective of understanding the influence of reinforcement content on composite microstructure, tensile properties and quasi-static fracture behaviour. Results reveal that elastic modulus and strength of the metal-matrix composite increased with reinforcement content in the metal matrix. With increase in test temperature the elastic modulus showed a marginal decrease while the ductility exhibited significant improvement. The improved strength of the Al-Al₂O₃ composite is ascribed to the concurrent and mutually interactive influences of residual stresses generated due to intrinsic differences in thermal expansion coefficients between constituents of the composite, constrained plastic flow and triaxiality in the soft and ductile aluminium alloy matrix due to the presence of hard and brittle particulate reinforcements. Fracture on a microscopic scale initiated by cracking of the individual or agglomerates of Al₂O₃ particulates in the metal matrix and decohesion at the matrix-particle interfaces. Failure through cracking and decohesion at the interfaces increased with reinforcement content in the matrix. The kinetics of the fracture process is discussed in terms of applied far-field stress and intrinsic composite microstructural effects.     

Microstructure and thermo-mechanical properties of SiCp/Al composites prepared by pressureless infiltration

In this paper, SiCp/Al composites with high reinforcement content are fabricated by pressureless infiltration with aluminum alloy into porous SiC preforms obtained by cold press forming. Microstructures and particulate distributions are analyzed with scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectrometer. The reinforcement volume fraction reaches 65 % by using bimodal particle distributions. The bending strength ranges from 320 to 342 MPa, depending on particle sizes. Due to the intrinsically low thermal conductivity of the matrix, the thermal conductivity of SiCp/Al composites are in the range of 121–143 W m^?1 K^?1.     

Fabrication and mechanical behaviour of Al2O3/Mo nanocomposites

Two types of Al₂O₃/Mo composites were fabricated by hot-pressing a mixture of - or -Al₂O₃ powder and a fine molybdenum powder. For Al₂O₃/5 vol% Mo composite using -Al₂O₃ as a starting powder, the elongated molybdenum layers were observed to surround a part of the Al₂O₃ grains, which resulted in an apparent high value of fracture toughness (7.1 Mpa m^1/2). In the system using -Al₂O₃ as a starting powder, nanometre sized molybdenum particles were dispersed within the Al₂O₃ grains and at the grain boundaries. Thus, it was confirmed that ceramic/metal nanocomposite was successfully fabricated in the Al₂O₃/Mo composite system. With increasing molybdenum content, the elongated molybdenum particles were formed at Al₂O₃ grain boundaries. Considerable improvements of mechanical properties were observed, such as hardness of 19.2 GPa, fracture strength of 884 MPa and toughness of 7.6 MPa m^1/2 in the composites containing 5, 7.5, 20 vol% Mo, respectively; however, they were not enhanced simultaneously. The relationships between microstructure and mechanical properties are also discussed.     

Influence of SiC and Al2O3 particulate reinforcements and heat treatments on mechanical properties and damage evolution of Al-2618 metal matrix composites

This investigation is mainly aimed to study the influence of SiC and Al₂O₃ particles on the mechanical properties and damage evolution behaviors of an aluminum alloy Al-2618. Heat treatments for the composites are also studied to optimize their mechanical properties. The results of tensile tests show that SiC particulate reinforcement has advantages over Al₂O₃ reinforcement in both strength and ductility for the composites. T4 treatment is suggested for the composites rather than conventional peak-aging treatment (T6). T4 heat treatment with an additional of 0.6% pre-strain can result in same UTS and a 0.2% proof stress for the composites as high as T6 treatment but the final elongation under T4 treatment is larger than that under T6 treatment by more than 100%. Based on observation of damage evolution behaviors of the reinforcing particles, a theory that strength of the composites is mainly decided by the balance between reinforcing particles sharing load and making strain discontinuity in the matrix is proposed to interpret the test results. Their tolerance for large local strain at the interface, their high K_1c and their low thermal expansion make SiC particles sharing much load and the better reinforcement over Al₂O₃ particles in respect to both strength and ductility of the composites.     

The toughness of epoxy-poly(butylene terephthalate) blends

Blends containing 5% poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) in an anhydride-cured epoxy with three different PBT morphologies were studied. The three morphologies were a dispersion of spherulites, a structureless gel and a gel with spherulites. The average fracture toughnesses, K _Ic, and fracture energies, G _Ic, for those morphologies were 0.83, 2.3 and 1.8 MPa m^1/2 and 240, 2000 and 1150 J m^–2, respectively. These values should be compared with the values of 0.72 MPa m^1/2 and 180 J m^–2, respectively, for the cured epoxy without PBT. The elastic moduli and yield strengths in compression for all three blend morphologies remained essentially unchanged from those of the cured epoxy without PBT, namely, 2.9 GPa for the modulus and 115 MPa for the yield strength. The fracture surfaces of the cured spherulitic dispersion blends indicate the absorption of fracture energy by crack bifurcation induced by the spherulites. The fracture surfaces of the cured structureless gel blends indicate that fracture energy was absorbed by matrix and PBT plastic deformation and by spontaneous crack bifurcation. But phase transformation of the PBT and anelastic strain of the matrix below the fracture surfaces may account for most of the large fracture energy of the cured structureless gel blends.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Cr3C2 particulate reinforced Al2O3 matrix composites

Al₂O₃ matrix with three grades of Cr₃C₂ particle size (0.5, 1.5 and 7.5 m) composites were fabricated by a hot-pressing technique. Fully dense compacts with Cr₃C₂ content up to 40 vol % can be acquired at 1400 °C under 30 MPa pressure for 1 h. The flexural strength increases from 595 to 785 Mpa for fine Cr₃C₂ particle (0.5 m) reinforced Al₂O₃ matrix composites. The fracture strength is significantly dependent on the fracture modes of matrix (intergranular or transgranular). The transgranular fracture with a compressive residual stress gives a high fracture strength of composites. At the same time, the fracture toughness increases from 5.2 MPa m^1/2 (10 vol % Cr₃C₂) to 8.0 MPa m^1/2 (30 vol % Cr₃C₂) for the coarse Cr₃C₂ particle (7.5 n) reinforced Al₂O₃ matrix composites. The toughening effects of incorporating Cr₃C₂ particles into Al₂O₃ matrix originate from crack bridging and deflection. The electrical conductivity and the possibility of electrical discharge machining of these composites were also investigated.