Manufacturing and Characterization of AA1100 Aluminum Alloy Metal Matrix Composites Reinforced by Silicon Carbide and Alumina Processed by Powder Metallurgy

Powder Metallurgy (PM) Techniques consists in a suitable technique to process composites materials. A specific PM technique of mechanical alloying developed to produce new materials in the solid state is a consolidated route to obtain aluminum alloys metal matrix composites. Aluminum alloys metal matrix composites allies the good properties of aluminum and its alloys but with poor mechanical properties and the reinforcement of ceramics phases which add better mechanical properties to these alloys. The research of this materials processing by PM techniques presented new materials with improved properties. In this work an AA1100 aluminum alloy was reinforced by particulate silicon carbide and alumina types of ceramic phases. The powders were mixed and then processed by mechanical alloying in a SPEX vibratory type mill. Then the powders obtained were compacted and vacuum sintered. The sintered composites were characterized by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) plus Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Vickers hardness (HV) tests to evaluate the mechanical behavior.