Effect of dual size particle distribution on processing and properties of AZ91D/SiCp magnesium matrix composites prepared by rotation cylinder method

Abstract

Spiral fluidity and hardness and wear experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of dual size (5 and 50 μ m) SiC particle distributions on the fluidity, hardness, and wear resistance of Mg - 9.1Al - 0.7Zn (wt-%) alloy containing 10 vol.-% SiC particles, with the aim of tailoring properties to specific applications. Although a decrease in the fluidity of the composites is observed, as expected, in the presence of SiC particles, the fluidity of the composites with dual size particle distributions was in some instances better than that of composites containing the same volume fraction of single size particles. The hardness and wear resistance of the composites with dual size distributions were weakly dependent on the mixing ratio. In terms of complete molten processing and tailored mechanical properties, the optimum mixing ratio of 5 and 50 μm particles appears to be 1:2.