Aluminum Matrix Composites Strengthened with CuZrAgAl Amorphous Atomized Powder Particles

The Al-matrix composites were prepared by hot pressing in vacuum of an aluminum powder with 20 and 40 wt.% addition of the amorphous Cu₄₃Zr₄₃Ag₇Al₇ alloy (numbers indicate at.%) obtained using gas atomization method. The amorphous structure of the powder was confirmed using x-ray diffraction, DSC, and TEM. The average size of mostly spherical particles was 100 μm, so the powder was sieved to obtain maximum size of 60 μm. The composites were prepared using uniaxial cold pressing in vacuum and at a temperature of 400 °C. The composites of hardness from 43 to 53 HV were obtained for both additions of the amorphous phase. They reached compression strength of 150 MPa for 20% of amorphous phase and 250 MPa for the higher content. The modest hardening effect was caused by crack initiation at Al/amorphous interfaces. The amorphous phase was only partially crystallized in the hot-pressed composites, what did not cause hardness decrease. The application of nanocrystalline aluminum powders obtained by high-energy ball milling for the matrix of composites allowed obtaining nanocrystalline aluminum matrix composites of size near 150 nm, strengthened with the amorphous powders, whose compression strength was near 550 MPa for the composite containing 40% of the amorphous phase and slightly lower for the composite containing 20% of the phase. They showed much higher ductility of 23% in comparison with 7% for the composite containing 40% amorphous phase. The distribution of the strengthening phase in the nanocrystalline matrix was not homogeneous; the amorphous particles formed bands, where majority of cracks nucleated during compression test.