Development and characterization of an aluminum alloy containing interconnected-wires as reinforcement

In this study, on aluminum alloy, AA1050, was reinforced with an interconnected, axisymmetrical, galvanized iron wire preform. The composite was synthesized using disintegrated melt deposition technique followed by hot extrusion. Micro structural characterization conducted on the composite samples showed good inter facial integrity and low volume percent of non-interconnected porosity. Physical property characterization show:ed that the coefficient of thermal expansion of the composite decreased below the values predicted by the theoretical models. Hardness test conducted on the materials revealed that the composite matrix exhibited a higher hardness when compared to the monolithic aluminum alloy. Tensile property characterization revealed that, even with a low volume percentage (0.896%) of the reinforcement. the elastic modulus of the composite material increased beyond the value predicted by the Rule-of-Mixture model. The 0.2% yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength of the composite material and the monolithic aluminum alloy remained within each other's standard deviation while the ductility of the composite material decreased. An attempt is made in this study to correlate the presence of interconnected-wires as reinforcement with the unusually superior coefficient of thermal expansion and elastic modulus exhibited by the composite material. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.