Influence of particle size distribution on properties of SiC particles reinforced aluminum matrix composites with high SiC particle content

Abstract

In this paper, 60.5–68.0 vol.% SiCp/Al composites were prepared by infiltrating liquid aluminum into preforms. The average diameters of SiC particles used in the particles packing experiments were 45, 8 and 2 µm for the group I preforms, and 75, 8 and 2 µm for the group II preforms. The thermal-mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. The mechanical properties test showed that the tensile strength of the composites was in the range of 212–349 MPa, and the elastic modulus of the composites was greater than 150 GPa. For a given SiC volume fraction, the tensile strength and elastic modulus of the group I composites were greater than that of the group II composites. The thermal properties test revealed that the coefficient of thermal expansion of the composites was in the range of 10.33–12.32 × 10–6/℃, and the measured thermal conductivity of the composites was greater than 85.6 W/(m·℃). The change of the particle size distribution had no effect on the coefficient of thermal expansion, and the coefficient of thermal expansion decreased linearly with the increase of SiC content. An average diameter approach for estimating the thermal conductivity of the composites was proposed in the application of Hasselman-Johnson model. The results indicated that the predictions of the model were in good agreement with the measured thermal conductivity of the composites.

Simulation on the Effect of Porosity in the Elastic Modulus of SiC Particle Reinforced Al Matrix Composites

“…According to the H-S lower bound, the circular shape in the numerical model underpredicts the elastic modulus of the Al-SiC composite. Though these predictions (with circular particles) fall off from the H-S lower bound, the data reported by Qu et al [34] demonstrates that the numerical predictions are reliable and the condition proposed in [29], is confirmed; while the V-R bounds are not overtaken, the numerical model is reliable. However, the accuracy of the numerical results must be checked by comparing the results to experimental data.…”

“…Therefore, at low volume reinforcement content, the particle shape has little effect on the elastic modulus of the composite. Figure 6 also shows the comparison between H-S bounds on Young's modulus for the Al/SiC system with data from various Al/SiC MMCs experimental results [32][33][34][35][36][37] and the numerical data obtained in this study. In the plot, the gathered experimental data-as well as the numerical predictions on the Young's modulus of the composite-lies near the lower bound of the H-S model.…”

“…), experimental data [32][33][34][35][36][37], numerical data (square The SiC square or angular particle reinforced Al matrix composites endure more load than reinforced with SiC round particles as shown in Figure 7. This plot shows the stress ratio (stress in the particle and the stress in the matrix, It is considered that the composite remains elastic independently of the applied load [31].…”

“…Effect of reinforcement content on the elastic modulus of Al-SiC composite. H-S bounds ( ), experimental data[32][33][34][35][36][37], numerical data (square , circle ) and V-R bounds ( ).…”

Influence of the Micromechanics Models and Volume Fraction Distribution on the Overall Behavior of SiC/Al Functionally Graded Pressurized Cylinders

“…The next step on the development of the UMATs was to implement the various homogenization schemes discussed in this study. In order to establish a baseline for comparison among all models, several experimental studies on Al/SiC MMCs (Premkumar et al, 1992;Liaw et al 1995;El-Eskandarany 1998;Santhosh Kumar et al 2009;Upadhyay and Singh 2012;Qu, Lou, and Li 2016) along with data from various Al/SiC MMCs manufacturers' datasheets (MATWEB 2018), were compiled and presented in Figure 4. The studies encompassed various volume fractions of SiC ranging from 0% to a little over 70%.…”