Manufacturing of high-strength aluminum/alumina composite by accumulative roll bonding

The ARB process used as a technique in this study provides an effective alternative method for manufacturing high-strength aluminum/alumina composites. The microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of the aluminum/15 vol.% alumina composite are reported. The composite shows an excellent alumina particle distribution in the matrix. It is found that by increasing the number of ARB cycles, not only does elongation increase in the composites produced but also the tensile strength of the Al/15 vol.% Al(2)O(3) composite improves by 4 times compared to that of the annealed aluminum used as the original raw material. Fracture surfaces after tensile tests are observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate the failure mode. Observations reveal that the failure mode in both ARB-processed composites and monolithic aluminum is of the shear ductile rupture type. (C) 2010 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.