Abstract
The pure Cu coating was plated on the surface of silicon carbide particles (SiCP) by two different methods, hydrazine hydrate direct reduction method and hydrazine with glucose pre-reduction method. The hydrazine with glucose pre-reduction method is more suitable for Cu plating on the surface of SiCP in terms of morphology and microstructure. AZ61 composites reinforced with different volume fractions (3~15%) uncoated and Cu-coated SiCP were prepared by powder metallurgy followed by hot extrusion. The effect of Cu coating on the morphology of SiCP/AZ61 composite was analyzed by optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), electronic probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The properties of the composite were characterized by Brinell hardness tester and mechanical testing machine. The effects of Cu coating on the micro-hardness, tensile strength and elongation of SiCP/AZ61 composite were analyzed. The tensile strength of AZ61 composite reinforced with Cu-coated SiCP increased by 3.5~6.3% and the elongation increased by 7.4~35.0% compared with AZ61 composite reinforced with uncoated SiCP. Therefore, the Cu coating can ameliorate the microstructure and properties of the SiCP/AZ61 composite effectively, reduce the defect rate in the composite, and improve the hardness, relative density, tensile strength, elongation of the composite.
Highlights
Magnesium and its alloys are widely used as structural materials in the aerospace, automotive, military, and electronics industries due to their light weight, high specific strength, superior machinability, and damping capacity
Since the purpose of this paper is to study the effect of Cu-coating layer on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Silicon carbide particle (SiCP) /AZ61 composites, we chose glucose pre-reduction method to prepare a uniform and intact Cu coating layer on the surface of SiC particles
SiCP /AZ61composites were prepared by hot pressing followed by hot extrusion using the mixture of rapidly solidified AZ61 alloy powder and different volume fractions of SiCP with and without Cu coating, respectively
Summary
Magnesium and its alloys are widely used as structural materials in the aerospace, automotive, military, and electronics industries due to their light weight, high specific strength, superior machinability, and damping capacity. AZ61 magnesium alloy is one of the most mature Mg–Al–Zn alloy systems with good room temperature strength and ductility [1,2,3]. The insufficient elastic modulus, strength, and hardness result in the limited application of these alloys in vehicles and so on. Compared with alloying and heat treatment, the incorporation of ceramic particles is an effective way to improve the mechanical properties of magnesium alloys. Silicon carbide particle (SiCP ) is widely used as reinforcement in metal matrix composites (MMCs) owing to its high hardness, strength, elastic modulus, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, high temperature resistance, and low price [4,5,6,7].
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