Effects of amount of methanol on characteristics of mechanically alloyed Al–Al2O3 composite powders

Abstract In this study, an Al–10 wt-%Al2O3 composite powder prepared by mechanical alloying was investigated at different milling times. To evaluate the effects of the amount of methanol as a process control agent on the characteristics of mechanical alloyed Al–Al2O3 composite powder and the properties of the composite materials, the composite powders and the composite materials have been successfully produced with different amounts of methanol, namely, 1, 2 and 3 wt-%. The composite powders were characterised using scanning electron microscope (SEM), laser particle size analyser, X-ray diffraction analysis and Vickers microhardness test. The milled powders were pressed and sintered under argon gas control. The microstructure of the produced composite was investigated by SEM. The results show that varying amounts of methanol produce considerable effects on the morphology, particle size and structural behaviour of the as milled composite powders. Moreover, different microhardness values were obtained for different amounts of methanol at the same milling time.

[1]  J. Suñol,et al.  The effects of process control agents on mechanical alloying behavior of a Fe–Zr based alloy , 2007 .

[2]  Mansour Razavi,et al.  Production of Al–20 wt.% Al2O3 composite powder using high energy milling , 2009 .

[3]  J. Torralba,et al.  Mechanical behaviour of the interphase between matrix and reinforcement of Al 2014 matrix composites reinforced with (Ni3Al)p , 2002 .

[4]  J. Torralba,et al.  Solid solution in Al-4.5 wt% Cu produced by mechanical alloying , 2006 .

[5]  George E. Kim,et al.  The properties and microstructure of Al-based composites reinforced with ceramic particles , 1998 .

[6]  Elisa Maria Ruiz-Navas,et al.  One step production of aluminium matrix composite powders by mechanical alloying , 2006 .

[7]  José M. Torralba,et al.  Effect of mechanical alloying on the morphology, microstructure and properties of aluminium matrix composite powders , 2003 .

[8]  Seyed Mojtaba Zebarjad,et al.  Microstructure evaluation of Al-Al2O3 composite produced by mechanical alloying method , 2006 .

[9]  G. G. Stokes "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[10]  Li Lu,et al.  Influence of process control agent on interdiffusion between Al and Mg during mechanical alloying , 1999 .

[11]  Minoru Umemoto,et al.  Effect of ethanol on the formation and properties of a Cu-NbC composite , 2010 .

[12]  J. Suñol,et al.  Influence of process control agents in the development of a metastable Fe-Zr based alloy , 2007 .

[13]  M. El-Eskandarany,et al.  Mechanical solid state mixing for synthesizing of SiCp/Al nanocomposites , 1998 .

[14]  L. Looney,et al.  Production of aluminium matrix composite components using conventional PM technology , 2001 .

[15]  P. Marashi,et al.  Preparation and mechanical properties of SiC-reinforced Al6061 composite by mechanical alloying , 2008 .

[16]  V. Senthilkumar,et al.  Role of nano-size reinforcement and milling on the synthesis of nano-crystalline aluminium alloy composites by mechanical alloying , 2010 .

[17]  Chengyao Wu,et al.  Effects of stearic acid on synthesis of nanocomposite WC–MgO powders by mechanical alloying , 2010 .

[18]  M. Gu,et al.  The compressibility of Cu/SiCp powder prepared by high-energy ball milling , 2008 .

[19]  E. J. Herrera,et al.  Processing of mechanically alloyed aluminum powder: A metallographic study , 2010 .

[20]  T. Srivatsan,et al.  Interrelationship between matrix microhardness and ultimate tensile strength of discontinuous particulate-reinforced aluminum alloy composites , 2001 .

[21]  J. A. Rodríguez,et al.  Structure and properties of attrition-milled aluminium powder , 1997 .

[22]  J. Benjamin,et al.  Dispersion strengthened aluminum made by mechanical alloying , 1977 .

[23]  Linan An,et al.  Synthesis and characterization of high volume fraction Al-Al2O3 nanocomposite powders by high-energy milling , 2006 .