Influence of heat treatment on the tensile properties and fracture behaviour of an aluminium alloy-ceramic particle composite

Abstract

The tensile deformation and fracture behaviour of aluminium alloy 2124 reinforced with different amounts of silicon carbide particulates was studied, in the as-extruded and heat-treated conditions, with the objective of investigating the influence of heat treatment and composite microstructural effects on tensile properties and quasi-static fracture behaviour. Results indicate that for a given microstructural condition, the elastic modulus and strength of the metal-matrix composite increased with reinforcement content in the metal matrix. For a given volume fraction of reinforcement, the heat-treated composite exhibited significantly improved modulus and strength-ductility relationships over the as-extruded counterpart. The increased strength of the Al-SiC composite is attributed to the competing and synergistic influence of strengthening precipitates in the matrix metal, residual stresses generated due to intrinsic differences in thermal expansion coefficients between components of the composite and strengthening from constrained plastic flow and triaxiality in the ductile matrix due to the presence of brittle reinforcement. Fracture on a microscopic scale is initiated by cracking of the individual or clusters of SiC particles present in the microstructure. Particle cracking was dominant for the as-extruded composite microstructure. For both the as-extruded and heat-treated conditions, particle cracking increased with reinforcement content in the matrix. Final fracture of the composite resulted from crack propagation through the matrix between clusters. Although these composites exhibited limited ductility on a macroscopic scale, on a microscopic scale the fracture mechanism revealed features reminiscent of ductile failure.