Mechanical Properties and Fracture Behavior of Mg-Al/AlN Composites with Different Particle Contents

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2016.07.010

Abstract

Abstract:

In this study, magnesium matrix composites reinforced with different loading of AlN particles were fabricated by the powder metallurgy technique. The microstructure, bending strength and fracture behavior of the resulting Mg-Al/AlN composites were investigated. It showed that the 5 wt% AlN reinforcements led to the highest densification and bending strength. The total strengthening effect of AlN particles was predicted by considering the contributions of CTE mismatch between the matrix and the particles, load bearing and Hall-Petch mechanism. The results revealed that the increase of dislocation density, the change of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase morphology, and the effective load transfer were the major strengthening contributors to the composites. The fracture of the composites altered from plastic to brittle mode with increasing reinforcement content. The regions of clustered particles in the composites were easy to be damaged under external load, and the fracture occurred mainly along grain boundaries.

Key words: Magnesium matrix composite, AlN particle, Bending strength, Fracture behavior, Microstructure, Powder metallurgy

Chen Jie, Bao Chonggao, Chen Wenhui, Zhang Li, Liu Jinling. Mechanical Properties and Fracture Behavior of Mg-Al/AlN Composites with Different Particle Contents[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2017, 33(7): 668-674.

Figures/Tables 10

Table 1 Density and grain size of the Mg-Al/AlN composites with different AlN contents

Reinforcement (wt%)	Density (g/cm³)	Relative density (%)	Grain size (μm)
0	1.71	95.15	57.0 ± 6
5	1.80	97.84	44.6 ± 2
10	1.83	97.14	44.4 ± 3
15	1.84	95.51	42.9 ± 2

Fig. 1. Microstructures of sintered Mg-Al/AlN composites with (a) 0, (b) 5, (c) 10, and (d) 15 wt% AlN. All compacts were pressed at 200 MPa and sintered at 620 °C under argon for 1 h.

Fig. 2. (a) TEM bright-field image of AlN in the Mg-Al/AlN composite (5 wt%), (b) dislocations in the matrix of the composite, (c) SAED pattern of the particle shown in Fig. 2(a), (d) EDS spectrum of the particle, and (e) high-resolution TEM image of AlN/matrix interface.

Fig. 3. XRD pattern of the Mg-Al/AlN composite (5 wt%) sintered at 620 °C for 1 h.

Fig. 4. TEM bright-field images of Mg17Al12 phase in the Mg-Al/AlN composites: (a) with 0 wt% and (b) with 5 wt% AlN.

Fig. 5. Load transfer from Mg matrix to AlN reinforcement particle.

Fig. 6. Residual stress between the reinforcement particle and matrix due to the CTE mismatch.

Fig. 7. Load-deflection curves of the P/M-fabricated Mg-Al/AlN composites with different AlN contents tested by three-point bending load at room temperature.

Fig. 8. Micrographs of fracture surface of the Mg-Al/AlN composites containing (a) 0, (b) 5, (c) 10 and (d) 15 wt% AlN. (a)-A, (b)-B and (d)-C are the enlarged views of A, B and C region, respectively.

Fig. 9. Optical micrographs of fracture path in the Mg-Al/AlN composites containing (a) 0, (b) 5, (c) 10 and (d) 15 wt% AlN.

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