Summary
This paper describes a class of composites fabricated from inexpensive constituents, silicon carbide made from rice hulls and aluminum, which can be processed by conventional metal working techniques. Aluminum/silicon carbide composites can be extruded, rolled, forged, and pressed into engineering shapes. The mechanical properties of these composites as a function of silicon carbide loading fraction and aluminum matrix in a variety of shapes are presented.
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S.G. Fishman received his BChE from Cornell University in 1964 and his MS and PhD in metallurgical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1966 and 1969 respectively. He joined the Naval Weapons Laboratory in 1969 where he worked on phase transformations and corrosion in metals. In 1975 he became head of the Metallic Materials Branch at the Naval Surface Weapons Center. He is presently responsible for planning and directing activities in metallurgical research and composite development at NAVSWC. He is the author or co-author of more than 40 technical papers and reports.
A.P. Divecha received his degree in chemistry from the University of Bombay (1958) and his masters in metallurgy from University of Utah (1962). He then joined Curtiss-Wright where he developed a method for preparation of thin film composites. Since 1963 he has been involved in development of such composites as SiC/Al, B/Al, Be/Ti, Al2O3/Al and epoxy I graphite. He is presently a group leader at the Naval Surface Weapons Center. He holds 7 patents in composite fabrication technology, most of them concerning SiC whisker-reinforced aluminum alloys.
S.D. Karmarkar received his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Ranchi, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, India in 1963 and his Diplng in metallurgy from Deutsche Technische Schule, Dusseldorf, West Germany in 1967. In 1969 he received a post-graduate diploma in operations research and industrial engineering from the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has more than 15 years of diversified industrial experience in various technical fields, tool and product design, material processing research and development, program planning and analysis, and product quality assurance and control. He joined NAVSWC in 1979 as a metallurgist and is presently responsible for planning and executing SiC/Al metal-matrix composite materials research and development tasks. He is the author or co-author of 25 technical reports.
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Divecha, A.P., Fishman, S.G. & Karmarkar, S.D. Silicon Carbide Reinforced Aluminum—A Formable Composite. JOM 33, 12–17 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339487
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339487