(ZrB2+Al2O3+Al3Zr)p/Al-4Cu composite synthesized by magneto-chemical melt reaction

Al-4Cu matrix composites reinforced by ZrB2, Al2O3 and Al3Zr particulates are synthesized using a magneto-chemical melt reaction. Using an electro-magnetic assisted melt reaction results in a uniform distribution of in situ particles with no indication of clustering and an equivalent diameter in the range of 80 nm-2 mu m. Comparing to the Al-4Cu alloy, the mechanical properties, the wear weight loss and the wear resistance of the composites are significantly enhanced. In particular, the increases in sigma(uts) and sigma(y) for the as-prepared composites with a 15% particulate-volume-fraction (PVF) are up to 47.3% and 53.7%; the decrease in wear weight loss from 89.078 to 46.385 mg is obtained, and the wear weight resistance R-relat. reaches 2.0573. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.