Microstructural and mechanical study of an Al matrix composite reinforced by Al-Cu-Fe icosahedral particles
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n this study, we produced an Al matrix composite material reinforced by Al-Cu-Fe particles of the icosahedral phase. The composite material was prepared using a hot isostatic pressure technique at T ¼ 673 K and P ¼ 180 MPa. The mechanical properties were investigated by compression tests performed at constant strain rate over the temperature range 290–823 K. The results show a vigorous strengthening effect resulting from the reinforcement particles. Strengthening is attributed to two main contributions arising from load transfer between the Al matrix and the reinforcement particles and from plastic deformation of the Al grains. The present results are compared with those obtained in a previous work on an Al-based composite reinforced by Al-Cu-Fe particles of the o-tetragonal phase. I. INTRODUCTION
Metal matrix composites (MMCs), combining light matrix and hard reinforcement particles, reached the commercial production age in the early 1990s, in particular in the aerospace, automotive, electronic, weapon, and sport domains. Several dedicated books have covered a broad range of these types of materials.1–4 Apart from continuous reinforcement fibers, composites with randomly distributed particles allow for a cheaper and easier fabrication process of MMCs that have the essential properties for structural applications, that is, high elastic modulus, strength, and wear resistance.5 Two categories of particle reinforced composites may be distinguished. In a first category, in situ composites are obtained by thermal treatment involving chemical reaction that results in a fine stable reinforcement phase homogeneously distributed in the matrix.6,7 The second category deals with composites where preexisting reinforcement particles are embedded in a metallic matrix, for instance, those produced by powder metallurgy processes that allow for the use of a wide variety of reinforcement particles with good control of the particle content. In this context, quasicrystalline (QC) particles appear to be good candidates for reinforcement particles in aluminium matrix composites. QC materials exhibit high hardness together with high elastic modulus and yield stress.8,9 Soon after the discovery of quasicrystals,10 Al-based MMCs reinforced by icosahedral Al-Li-Cu particles were produced by Sainfort and Dubost.11 The first composite materials reinforced by a)
Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/JMR.2010.0118 J. Mater. Res., Vol. 25, No. 5, May 2010
QC Al-Cu-Fe particles were fabricated by Tsaı¨ et al. in 199312 using a powder metallurgy process. In the last decade, several routes were used to produce Al-based MMCs initially reinforced by QC particles, Al-Cu-Fe, Al-Mn-Ce, or Al-Mn-Fe, such as powder metallurgy process, the copper mold casting technique, and conventional casting.13–21 Final composition, particle distribution, and mechanical properties appear to be tightly interdependent and highly correlated to the process conditions.22,23 All these works underline the strengthenin
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