Mechanical properties of aluminum /SiC bulk composites fabricated by aggregate accumulative press bonding and stir-casting process

Abstract

Today, the emergence of composite structures can be considered a huge transformation on an industrial scale, especially in the transportation industry. Among all the structures made by the composite process, aluminum-based composites (AMMCs) are particularly popular both in the scientific and industrial fields. These structures are very light in weight and, at the same time, have significant strength. The ability to work with the machine in these structures is very high, and their plastic deformation is so high that they can be used in different industry sectors. Today, various methods are used to induce plastic deformation in aluminum-based composites (AMMCs). One of these methods is called aggregate accumulative press bonding (APB). The advantage of this method compared to other methods is that this method can create a homogeneous nanocomposite with ultra-fine grains. In the present study, the investigation of mechanical properties (MP's) of AA5083/5%SiC bulk composites fabricated via APB vs. pressing temperature (Temp) was conducted. All primary composite samples were fabricated via the stir-casting process (SCP). APB process was done on composite samples as a supplementary process. Finally, the effect of pressing Temp on the MP and microstructural properties (MSP) was investigated. The pressing Temp was varied between the ambient Temp's up to T = 300 °C. The MP were measured in this study by the Vickers micro-hardness (VMH) test, tensile test, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was realized that the pressing Temp has a prominent effect on the MS and MP of fabricated 400°C. Samples fabricated at the ambient Temp have low ductility and high strength while for samples fabricated at T = 300 °C, the elongation and toughness values were higher than others. The TS of samples after 2 steps of APB at T = 200°C is 1.31 times more than that of fabricated at T = 300°C. Elongation was reduced sharply to 1.8% after the two steps at the ambient Temp, while it was 21% for the annealed AA5083.