Nanoscratch-induced deformation behaviour in B4C particle reinforced ultrafine grained Al alloy composites: a novel diagnostic approach

We report on the novel application of nanoscratch characterization to provide insight into the plasticity mechanisms responsible for the behaviour of composites. Accordingly, we conduct deformation characterization with nanoscratch testing (DCNT) to study the deformation behaviour of two B4C reinforced ultrafine grained Al alloy tri-modal composites with average B4C particle sizes of similar to 1-6 mu m and similar to 500 nm, respectively. To highlight the type of mechanistic information revealed in a DCNT study of composites, we concentrate on the influence of B4C particle size on deformation mechanisms.