MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES (Al/SiCp) PARTICLES PRODUCED BY POWDER METALLURGY

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have become attractive for engineering structural applications due to their excellent specific strength property and are increasingly seen as alternative to the conventional materials particularly in the automotive, aerospace and defence industries. Al/SiC MMC has aluminium matrix and the silicon carbide particles as reinforcements and exhibits many desirable mechanical properties. In the present study, an attempt has been made to fabricate Al/SiC composite by powder metallurgy route as it homogenously distributes the reinforcement in the matrix with no interfacial chemical reaction and high localized residual porosity. SiC particles containing different weight fractions (10 and 15 wt. %) and mesh size (300 and 400) is used as reinforcement. The paper presents the processing of Al/SiC by powder metallurgy method to achieve desired properties and also the results of an experimental investigation on the mechanical properties of Al/SiC are determined.