Effect of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and silicon carbide (SiC) on mechanical properties of pure Al manufactured by powder metallurgy

Abstract

In the present research, the effects of the size and amount of CNT and SiC particles on the mechanical properties of Al matrix composite were investigated. SiC of particle size 10μm, CNT 10–40nm, and Al powder of particle size less than 50μm and purity 99.99% were used. Composites of Al with 3, 6, 9 and 12wt.% SiC and 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1wt.% CNT were manufactured by powder metallurgy technique by cold compaction and vacuum sintering. Relative density, hardness, compression and friction coefficient were studied. The results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and optical microscope observations illustrated that the distribution of the reinforcing particles was uniform. Moreover, increasing the amount of SiC and CNT leads to decreasing the relative density and improving the hardness and compressive strength of Al–SiC and Al-CNT composites.