Microstructure and property relationship between Al-4.5Cu alloy and Al-4.5Cu-Al2O3 composite developed by mechanical alloying

The present work aims to fabricate an alloy (Al-4.5Cu) and a composite (Al-4.5Cu-Al2O3) with the help of the mechanical alloying method. As compared to the high-temperature melting and casting process, mechanical alloying is a solid-state synthesis process, which requires low temperature for the synthesis of alloy and composite through powder metallurgy route. A high energy planetary ball mill mechanically alloy the Al, Cu, and Al2O3 powders for 10 h with 200 revolutions per minute to milled the alloy and composite powder mixture. Then the milled powder mixtures are compacted in a single punch die compaction machine and then sintered at 550 and 660 degrees C for 1hr. XRD analysis of the sintered alloy and composite predicts the formation of a new phase, i.e., CuAl2. A comparative study of density, hardness, and compressive strength values of the alloy with the composite depicts that the un-sintered and sintered composite have better properties (density, hardness, and compressive strength) due to the presence of Al2O3 and CuAl2. With increasing the sintering temperature from 550 to 660 degrees C, the properties further enhanced for both the alloy and composite. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study aims to fabricate Al-4.5Cu alloy and Al-4.5Cu-Al2O3 composite through mechanical alloying method, predicting the formation of a new phase CuAl2 via XRD analysis. The research found that both unsintered and sintered composites exhibit better density, hardness, and compressive strength compared to the alloy, with properties further enhanced as the sintering temperature increases from 550 to 660 degrees C.