Interfacial reaction of Al matrix composites reinforced with TiO2-coated SiC particles during remelting

Reducing the extent of interfacial reaction in Al matrix composites reinforced with SiC particles is critical to its remelt recycling. In this work, the chemical reactions of TiO2 coated SiCp/Al composites during remelting were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermodynamic calculation. The results obtained clearly show that TiO2 coating could reduce the extent of the interfacial reaction between SiC and liquid Al during remelting at 850 degreesC. However, the effect is not obvious after 20 min. In addition, the extent of reaction is predicted thermodynamically and the calculated result agrees well with the experimental results. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.