Production of boron carbide reinforced 2024 aluminum matrix composites by mechanical alloying

Abstract

Boron carbide particulates reinforced 2024 Aluminum matrix composites were fabricated by mechanical alloying-hot extrusion technology successfully. The morphology and microstructure of B4Cp/2024Al composite were investigated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A clean interface of B4C between aluminum was obtained in this experiment, and matrix alloy revealed the typical microstructure of high energy milling with average grain size about 300 nm. Nanosized oxide and carbide formed after the composites subjected to high energy milling and hot consolidation process. The yield strength and Young's modulus values were improved significantly over the monolithic 2024 alloy. © 2007 The Japan Institute of Metals.