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Effects of hot-pressing parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of composites synthesized by Al-TiO2in-situ reaction

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Abstract

As a classic in-situ reaction, the Al-TiO2 reaction is expected to prepare aluminum matrix composites with high thermal stability. In this study, it was found that the preparation method of ensuring sufficient reaction using higher temperatures in previous studies was not conducive to acquiring optimized high-temperature strength. With the increase of hot-pressing temperature and the extension of holding time, the in-situ reaction became more thorough, but the strength of the composites first increased and then decreased. Coarsening of the microstructure at high temperatures would lead to degradation of strength and controlling the in-situ reaction process by the hot-pressing parameters could optimize the mechanical properties of the composites. Strengthening mechanisms at room and high temperatures were studied, and it was found that the load-transfer and Orowan strengthening mechanisms are the main strengthening effects at room temperature, while the pinning effect of fine particles became more crucial at elevated temperatures. As a result, the coarsening of the reinforcing phases was more detrimental to the high-temperature strength. Therefore, an insufficient in-situ reaction led to more excellent mechanical properties, and the composite hot-pressed at 605°C and held for 2 h exhibited the highest strength, which was 367 MPa at room temperature and 170 MPa at 350°C.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Yin Liu, LiMing Gu & XiaoNan Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Nuclear Materials and Safety Assessment, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    YuNing Zan, QuanZhao Wang & ZongYi Ma

  3. Shi-changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Yin Liu, LiMing Gu, XiaoNan Li, YuNing Zan, QuanZhao Wang, Dong Wang, BoLv Xiao & ZongYi Ma

  4. Nuclear Equipment Division, Beijing Institute of Nuclear Engineering, China Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100840, China

    WanQi Chen

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  1. Yin Liu
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to YuNing Zan or Dong Wang.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFA1600704), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52203385 and 52171056), CNNC Science Fund for Talented Young Scholars, the IMR Innovation Fund (Grant No. 2021-ZD02), the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (Grant No. 2022-BS-009), and Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (Grant No. YESS20220225).

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Liu, Y., Chen, W., Gu, L. et al. Effects of hot-pressing parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of composites synthesized by Al-TiO2in-situ reaction. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 66, 2725–2734 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2359-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2359-5

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