Abstract
Bimodal hybrid in-situ nano-/micro-size TiC/Al composites were prepared with combustion synthesis of Al-Ti-C system and hot press consolidation. Attempt was made to obtain in-situ bimodal-size TiC particle reinforced dense Al matrix composites by using different carbon sources in the reaction process of hot pressing forming. Microstructure showed that the obtained composites exhibited reasonable bimodal-sized TiC distribution in the matrix and low porosity. With the increasing of the carbon nano tube (CNT) content from 0 to 100 wt. %, the average size of the TiC particles decreases and the compressive strength of the composite increase; while the fracture strain increases first and then decreases. The compressive properties of the bimodal-sized TiC/Al composites, especially the bimodal-sized composite synthesized by Al-Ti-C with 50 wt. % CNTs as carbon source, were improved compared with the composites reinforced with single sized TiC. The strengthening mechanism of the in-situ bimodal-sized particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites was revealed.
Highlights
The development of aluminum matrix composites (AMCs), which were reinforced by ceramic particles, has attracted considerable interests in many fields, such as aerospace, defense, and automotive applications [1,2,3]
A small amount of Al3Ti intermetallic compound was inspected in the composite was synthesized by Al-Ti-C with 100 wt. % carbon nano tube (CNT) as the carbon source
The in-situ bimodal-sized TiC/Al composites were successfully obtained using a different ratio of CNT and C contents as the carbon sources in the Al-Ti-C system
Summary
The development of aluminum matrix composites (AMCs), which were reinforced by ceramic particles, has attracted considerable interests in many fields, such as aerospace, defense, and automotive applications [1,2,3]. These AMCs exhibited excellent mechanical properties, such as high specific strength, high wear resistance [4], low density, and low cost. Selective laser melting technology has received more attention It is a new type of metal powder rapid prototyping technology that can directly produce metal parts that are close to full density and good mechanical properties [10,11,12]. The ex-situ AMCs reinforced with ceramic particles have some problems, such as poor wettability, Materials 2018, 11, 1284; doi:10.3390/ma11081284 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
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