Deformation-driven metallurgy of SiC nanoparticle reinforced aluminum matrix nanocomposites

Interest in aluminum matrix composites has grown with their potential applications as engineering materials due to its high specific strength. However, there are several major obstacles remaining in the fabrication: High production costs, non-uniform distribution of reinforcements, grain coarsening of matrices, and poor interfacial reaction. In this paper, aluminum matrix nanocomposites were fabricated by deformation-driven metallurgy (DDM) using 5 wt% SiC nanoparticles as a reinforcement contained within pure aluminum matrix. Raw powders were blended, compacted, and then processed by DDM at different rotational velocities. Microstructural observations were undertaken to reveal the grain refinement, the distribution of reinforcements, and the nature of the SiC-aluminum interface. The elastic modulus and hardness of the composites reached 202% and 251% of the pure aluminum. Triple strengthening mechanism including Orowan strengthening, grain boundary strengthening, and dislocation strengthening were calculated and discussed. The results show that the composites processed by DDM are charming because it provides self-heating, low-cost, and high-performance approaches to sintering aluminum matrix composites compared with other processing routes. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.