Ceramic phase reinforced aluminum matrix composites (CAMCs) are widely used in high-tech fields represented by aerospace industry due to their advantages of high specific strength, high specific modulus, high thermal stability, and light weight. Strong interface bonding is a prerequisite for high performance of multiphase materials. Herein, a novel CAMC in situ reinforced by MgAl2O4 particles and MgAlB4 nanorods was prepared by vacuum hot-pressing combined with hot-extrusion process. A high-resolution transmission electron microscope was used to characterize the orientation relationship and interface structure between the ceramic phases and the aluminum matrix. Two orientation relationships (OR1 and OR2) of MgAl2O4/Al and one (OR3) of MgAlB4/Al are determined: OR1-[011]p//[011]Al, (11̅1)p//(11̅1)Al; OR2-[211]p//[011]Al, (113̅)p//(022̅)Al; OR3-[101̅0]R//[001]Al, (0002)R//(2̅20)Al. The MgAl2O4 in OR1 forms a coherent interface with the aluminum matrix at (111) surface, while they form a 4 × 5 near coincidence site lattice (CSL) interface structure for OR2. In OR3, the MgAlB4 forms an approximate coherent interface with Al matrix at its (0002) surface and a 2 × 5 CSL interface structure at its (011̅0) surface. First-principles calculations suggest that MgAl2O4 combines to aluminum at (111) plane through covalent bonds, which means high interfacial bonding strength. The hot-extrusion process makes the ceramic phase evenly distributed in the matrix. The mechanical properties of the composites are greatly improved compared with pure aluminum.
Interfacial bonding is an important factor affecting the mechanical properties of composites. The interface between the in-situ synthesized ceramic phase and the metal matrix is considered ideal, so little attention is paid to the interfacial modification. In this work, we found that interfacial segregation affects the growth of the MgAlB 4 whisker and the interface of reinforcement and matrix in the composites. Systematic experiments and theoretical calculations indicate Fe solute prefer to segregate at the MgAlB 4 - { 10 1 ‾ 0 } /Al interfaces in in-situ synthesized MgAlB 4 /Al composites, which is helpful to reduce system free energy. On the one hand, Fe segregation induces the whisker coarsening and the formation of planar defects with a sandwich structure formed by a layer of Fe atoms and two layers of Al atoms in coarse-whiskers, on the other hand, it improves the interfacial strength . Although extra Fe aggravates the whisker coarsening, the synergistic reinforcing effect of the whiskers and the extra Fe is greater than the sum of their individual reinforcing effects. This work demonstrates that interfacial segregation can be used to modulate the size of reinforcements and improve interfacial strength.
Metal boride whiskers were successfully synthesized in Al matrix by ball-milling combining with vacuum hot pressing process. Composition and structural analysis confirm that the metal boride is hexagonal crystal MgAlB 4 . First-principles calculations indicate that Mg doping can promote the growth of AlB 2 in [0001] orientation and inhibit the growth in [ 21 3 ‾ 0 ] orientation. Based on the experiment and calculation results, we proposed a layer growth model with tip preferential growing in [0001] direction to obtain MgAlB 4 whiskers. Tensile tests show that the in-situ synthesized MgAlB 4 whiskers reinforced Al matrix composites have excellent ultimate tensile strength with an acceptable elongation to break. Electron backscatter diffraction results show that the whiskers can significantly refine the grain of the matrix, resulting in more retention of low angle grain boundaries in the matrix. Fracture analysis reveals that strong interface bonding was achieved between the whisker and the Al matrix, which benefits the load transfer between the matrix and the whiskers and results in crack initiation preferentially in whisker.
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