Research Status and Application Prospect of Aluminum Matrix Composites

Aluminum matrix composite is one of the most attractive metal matrix composites. It is a kind of material with strong vitality emerging in response to the needs of modern scientific development. Compared with traditional materials, aluminum matrix composites have the advantages of low density, good electric conductivity and heat conductivity, good wear resistance and oxidation resistance, high specific strength and stiffness, high temperature resistance, good heat treatment performance and flexible preparation process, which make them widely used in the fields of aviation, aerospace, and automobile. In this paper, the factors affecting the properties of aluminum matrix composites, the strengthening mechanism, classification and preparation methods of aluminum matrix composites are summarized. The research status, development direction and application prospect of aluminum matrix composites are briefly introduced

Performance Comparison of Al–Ti Master Alloys with Different Microstructures in Grain Refinement of Commercial Purity Aluminum

Three types of Al–5Ti master alloys were synthesized by a method of thermal explosion reaction in pure molten aluminum. Performance comparison of Al–5Ti master alloy in grain refinement of commercial purity Al with different additions (0.6%, 1.0%, 1.6%, 2.0%, and 3.0%) and holding time (10, 30, 60 and 120 min) were investigated. The results show that Al–5Ti master alloy with blocky TiAl3 particles clearly has better refining efficiency than the master alloy with mixed TiAl3 particles and the master alloy with needle-like TiAl3 particles. The structures of master alloys, differing by sizes, morphologies and quantities of TiAl3 crystals, were found to affect the pattern of the grain refining properties with the holding time. The grain refinement effect was revealed to reduce markedly for master alloys with needle–like TiAl3 crystals and to show the further significant improvement at a longer holding time for the master alloy containing both larger needle–like and blocky TiAl3 particles. For the master alloy with finer blocky particles, the grain refining effect did not obviously decrease during the whole studied range of the holding time

Hot Deformation Behavior and Microstructure Evolution of 6063 Aluminum Alloy Modified by Rare Earth Y and Al-Ti-B Master Alloy

The hot deformation behaviors of the new 6063 aluminum alloy modified by rare earth Y and Al-Ti-B master alloy were studied through isothermal hot compression experiments on the Gleeble-3800 thermal simulator. By characterizing the flow curves, constitutive models, hot processing maps, and microstructures, we can see from the true stress–true strain curves that the flow stress decreases with the increase of deformation temperature and the decrease of strain rate. Through the calculation of the constitutive equation, we derived that the activation energy of the new composite modified 6063 aluminum alloy is 224.570 KJ/mol. we roughly obtained its excellent hot processing range of temperatures between 470–540 °C and the strain rates of 0.01–0.1 s−1. The verification of the deformed microstructure shows that with the decrease of lnZ, the grain boundary changes from a low-angle one to a high-angle one and the dynamic recrystallization is dominated by geometric dynamic recrystallization and continuous dynamic recrystallization. Analysis of typical samples at 480 °C/0.01 s−1 shows that the addition of rare earth Y mainly helps form Al3Y5 and AlFeSiY phases, thus making the alloy have the performance of high-temperature recrystallization, which is beneficial to the hot workability of the alloy

A Precipitation Phenomenon of Titanium Compounds in Aluminum Melts and the Refinement Fading Mechanism of the Al-5Ti-0.62C Master Alloy

The Al-5Ti-0.62C master alloy was prepared through a method of thermal explosion in molten aluminum. The process of remelting and refining of commercially pure aluminum was conducted, and precipitation samples with different heat-treatment times were obtained. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM), and other techniques were used to analyze the microstructure of the precipitates at the bottom of the samples so as to explore the fading mechanism of Al-Ti-C alloy refinement. The results showed that an obvious precipitation phenomenon of titanium compounds existed in the remelted Al-5Ti-0.62C master alloy and that there were both TiC compounds and TiAl3 compounds in the precipitates; in the refined pure aluminum samples, the precipitates were mainly TiC compounds. Precipitation of titanium compounds in aluminum melting is the main cause of fading in the refinement effect of an Al-Ti-C master alloy

Effect of Micro-Scale Er on the Microstructure and Fluidity of ZL205A Alloy

The effect of Er addition on the fluidity and microstructure transformation of the as-cast and T5 heat-treated ZL205A alloys was investigated by optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The fluidity of the liquid metal after adding Er was tested and the fracture characteristics of the material were analyzed. The results indicated that Er was mainly dissolved into an α–Al matrix near the grain boundaries (GBs). It is easily segregated and enriched in the intersection of the GBs or the interface between the α and θ phase, which caused the intermetallic compounds to be distributed along the GBs to the neck and to fuse. Er could also inhibit the diffusion of Cu atoms in the process of solid solution, so that increased the residual eutectic structures in the crystal, while accelerating the precipitation progress of the Guinier–Preston (GP) zone and θ’ phase and increasing precipitation of the θ phase. A small amount of precipitation of θ phase and micro-scale Er (0.1–0.5 wt %) can significantly increase the fluidity and reduce the casting defects, which can effectively improve the castability of the ZL205A alloy. The interface between the (Al8Cu4Er) phase and matrix is the main area of microcracks, through analyzing the fracture morphology

Effect of Nd on microstructure and properties of 6063 aluminum alloy

The microstructure of 6063 aluminum alloy has an important influence on its properties. In this paper, the effect of the composite addition of Nd (0, 0.1 wt%, 0.2 wt%, 0.4 wt%, 0.6 wt%) and Al–Ti–B master alloy on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 6063 aluminum alloy was studied. The results show that the composite modification of rare earth Nd and Al–Ti–B has great refinement effect on 6063 aluminum alloy. With the amount of rare earth Nd is 0.1 wt%, the grain boundary is mainly composite of a short rod or discontinuous granular AlFeSiMgNd complex compound. With the content of rare earth reaches 0.6 wt%, the enrichment of rare earth Nd occurs at the grain boundaries, and a grid-like AlSiNd phase is formed. After 180 days of natural aging on the basis of T6 heat treatment, with the increase in the amount of rare earth Nd added, the elongation of the 6063 aluminum alloy increased significantly, but the tensile strength and vickers hardness decreased. The alloy undergoes ductile fracture, and AlSiNd and AlFeSiMgNd particles are present on the fracture surface. This may also be the main reason for the effect of Nd on the mechanical properties of 6063 alloy

Effect of Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce Master Alloy on the Microstructure and Tensile Properties of Commercial Pure Al and Hypoeutectic Al-8Si Alloy

Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce master alloy was synthesized by a method of thermal explosion reaction in pure molten aluminum and used to modify commercial pure Al and hypoeutectic Al-8Si alloy. The microstructure and tensile properties of commercial pure Al and hypoeutectic Al-8Si alloy with different additions of Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce master alloy were investigated. The results show that the Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce alloy was composed of α-Al, granular TiC, lump-like TiAl3 and block-like Ti2Al20Ce. Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce master alloy (0.3 wt %, 5 min) can significantly refine macro grains of commercial pure Al into tiny equiaxed grains. The Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce master alloy (0.3 wt %, 30 min) still has a good refinement effect. The tensile strength and elongation of commercial pure Al modified by the Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce master alloy (0.3 wt %, 5 min) increased by roughly 19.26% and 61.83%, respectively. Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce master alloy (1.5 wt %, 10 min) can significantly refine both α-Al grains and eutectic Si of hypoeutectic Al-8Si alloy. The dendritic α-Al grains were significantly refined to tiny equiaxed grains. The morphology of the eutectic Si crystals was significantly refined from coarse needle-shape or lath-shape to short rod-like or grain-like eutectic Si. The tensile strength and elongation of hypoeutectic Al-8Si alloy modified by the Al-5Ti-0.62C-0.2Ce master alloy (1.5 wt %, 10 min) increased by roughly 20.53% and 50%, respectively. The change in mechanical properties corresponds to evolution of the microstructure

Effect of CeO₂ on Microstructure and Synthesis Mechanism of Al-Ti-C Alloy

The effects of CeO2 on the microstructure and synthesis mechanism of Al-Ti-C alloy were investigated by quenching experiment method, while using Al powder, Ti powder, graphite powder, and CeO2 powder as main raw materials. The results showed that the addition of CeO2 was favorable for promoting the formation of TiC particles in Al-Ti-C systems. With CeO2 contents increasing, the distribution of TiC particles were more homogeneous, and the rare earth phase Ti2Al20Ce was formed. CeO2 had little effect on the synthesis of Al3Ti particles in Al-Ti-C systems, but had a significant effect on the synthesis of TiC particles. In the Al-Ti-C system, TiC is mainly formed by the reaction of dissolved [Ti] and solid C in the melt. While in the Al-Ti-C-Ce system, CeO2 reacts with C and O2 to form CeC2 firstly, and then CeC2 reacts with dissolved [Ti] to form TiC. Based on thermodynamic calculation and microstructure analysis in the process of reaction, a macroscopic kinetic model of Al-Ti-C-Ce system reactions was proposed in this paper

A new modifier for microstructure and mechanical properties of 6063 aluminum alloy

In this paper, 6063 aluminum alloy for common building profiles is used as the research object. The effect of 6063 aluminum alloy on the microstructure and properties of 6063 aluminum alloy is studied by adding a new type of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy. The results show that Al-Ti-C-La master alloy has an obvious influence on grain refinement of 6063 aluminum alloy. With the addition of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy, the grain size decreased significantly. When the additional amount of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy is 1%, the grain size is reduced from 482 μ m to 121 μ m. Rare earth La is mainly distributed near the Mg _2 Si phase and β -AlFeSi, and complex compounds such as AlFeSiMgLa are formed. After aging for 270 days based on T6 heat treatment, the tensile strength, and elongation of 6063 aluminum alloy increase with the addition of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy, while Vickers hardness decreases gradually. When the content of Al-Ti-C-La master alloy is 1%, the tensile strength, elongation, and Vickers hardness of 6063 aluminum alloy reach 177.2 MPa, 17.8% and 60.9 HV respectively, and the tensile strength is increases by 16.3%. The elongation rate increased by 50.8%, the Vickers hardness decreased by 15.4%, and the ductile fracture was the main fracture of the alloy

Effect of Si and Holding Time on Ti₂Al₂₀La Phase in Al-Ti-La Intermediate Alloy

The effects of holding time and Si on the content, shape size and structure of Ti2Al20La phase in Al-Ti-La intermediate alloy were investigated by an X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. The results show that the volume fraction and aspect ratio of Ti2Al20La phase in Al-Ti-La intermediate alloy decrease significantly, from 21% and 2.3 without Si addition to 4% and 2.0 with the addition of 2.3 wt.% Si at a holding time of 15 min at 750 °C, respectively. The Si element will attach to the Ti2Al20La phase and form La-Si binary phase at the grain boundary of α-Al. With the increase of holding time from 15 min to 60 min, the content of Ti2Al20La phase in the alloy gradually decreases and the size decreases significantly. Meanwhile, Al11La3 will dissolve and disappear, while the content of La-Si binary phase increases, and part of Ti2Al20La phase transforms into Ti2(Al20−x,Six)La phase