Aluminum-15 wt. % zircon metal matrix composite was fabricated using spark plasma sintering method at the temperature of 450°C and holding time of 4 min. The bending strength of 284±21 MPa and microhardness of 171±14 Vickers were determined for produced composite. XRD investigations proved that almost no decomposition of zircon particles as reinforcement occurred. SEM studies revealed the homogenous dispersion of reinforcement particles in the aluminum matrix.
Different pressures of 80 and 90 MPa were applied to produce Y 2 O 3 ceramics by spark plasma sintering in this work. Effects of pressure were investigated on densification, microstructure, infrared (IR) transmission and mechanical properties. It was found that applying higher pressure led to finer microstructure and consequently higher hardness and fracture toughness. An IR-transparent Y 2 O 3 ceramic with 60% transmission at wavelength of 5 µm was obtained by sintering at 1300°C under uniaxial pressure of 90 MPa. This sample had an average grain size of 0.76 µm and hardness and fracture toughness of 9.37 GPa and 1.60 MPa.m 1/2 , respectively.
Microwave assisted rapid sintering was carried out to fabricate aluminum-ZrB 2 metal matrix composites containing 1 wt% cobalt and 10, 15 and 20 wt% ZrB 2 as the reinforcements at temperatures of 600, 700 and 800°C. The results showed that the highest values of density and bending strength (97% of theoretical density and 240 MPa, respectively) were obtained in a composite containing 15 wt% ZrB 2 and 1 wt% Co sintered at 600°C. Furthermore, the optimum values of compressive strength and hardness (350 MPa and 63 Vickers, respectively) were measured for a composite containing 20 wt% ZrB 2 sintered at 600°C. At all sintering temperatures, XRD analysis revealed ZrB 2 and aluminum as the only crystalline phases. Microstructure investigations demonstrated a homogeneous distribution of ZrB 2 particles in the aluminum matrix.
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