Creep properties of aluminum-based composite containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Aluminum and aluminum-based composites containing 4.5 vol.% multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are fabricated by hot-rolling the ball-milled powder, and their creep behavior is investigated at 523 K. The composite shows much enhanced creep resistance at the applied stresses higher than 200 MPa. In the relatively low applied stress region (stresses below 110 MPa), however, the composite shows negligible dependency of strain rate on stress because the diffusional flow of the matrix is significantly restricted by MWCNTs. (C) 2011 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.