The thermal expansion and mechanical properties of high reinforcement content SiCp/Al composites fabricated by squeeze casting technology

With mixing different sized SiC particles, high reinforcement content SiCp/Al composites (V-p = 50, 60 and 70%) for electronic packaging applications were fabricated by squeeze casting technology. The composites were free of porosity and SiC particles distributed uniformly in the composite. The mean linear coefficients of thermal expansion (20 - 100 degreesC) of SiCp/Al composites ranged from 8.3 to 10.8 X 10(-6) PC and decreased with an increase in volume fraction of SiC content. The experimental coefficients of thermal expansion agreed well with predicted values based on Kerner's model. The Brinell hardness increased from 188.6 to 258.0, and the modulus increased from 148 to 204 GPa for the corresponding composites. The bending strengths were larger than 370 MPa, but no obvious trend between bending strength and SiC content was observed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.