The Effect of Reinforcement Phase on the Microstructure of Al-SiC Nanocomposite Powder Prepared via Mechanical Alloying

Abstract

Mechanical alloying is one of the most successful methods for the manufacturing of metal matrix nanocomposite powders. In this study, Al/SiC metal matrix composite (MMCp) powders with volume fractions of 5, 10, and 15 percent SiC were successfully obtained after milling the powder for a period of 25 hours at a ball to powder ratio of 15:1 using high energy planetary milling. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were conducted to investigate the lattice strain of the matrix phase and the microstructure of the nanocomposite powders after 1, 10, and 25 hours of milling time. Also, the morphology of the Al-5%SiC nanocomposite powder was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that with the increase of both milling time and the reinforcement phase volume fraction, the lattice strain increases and the average size of aluminum phase crystallites decreases. Eventually, after 25 hours of milling, the nanocomposite powders show a spherical-like morphology and SiC particles were distributed in an aluminum matrix with appropriate order.