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Al/Al2O3 metal matrix composites produced using magnetic field-assisted freeze-casting of porous ceramic structures

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Abstract

Al/Al2O3 metal matrix composites (MMCs) were produced by metal infiltration of porous ceramic preforms. The porous ceramic preforms were fabricated using the magnetic field-assisted freeze-casting method, resulting in vertically aligned porous channels. Preforms were prepared by freezing an Al2O3/Fe3O4-containing slurry within an applied magnetic field. Vertical alignment of the channels was facilitated by the magnetic response of the Fe3O4 in the slurry during the freezing process. After freezing and sublimation, the ceramic preforms were sintered and then infiltrated with molten A356 Al-based alloy. The mechanical properties of the resulting Al2O3/A356 MMCs were compared to those of bulk Al2O3, bulk Al-based alloy (A356), and porous Al2O3 preforms using micro-indentation testing. The indentation hardness and elastic moduli values of Al2O3/A356 MMCs showed good agreement with the predicted theoretical calculations. This study provides a new approach for the design of MMCs with controlled composition and improved mechanical characteristics.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Army Research Laboratory (Award No. W911NF-19-2-0011). This work was performed in part at the University of North Texas’s Materials Research Facility. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Chris Benmore, the beamline scientist, for help with the setting up and controlling the SR-XRD experiments at sector 6-ID-D, as well as Dr. Robert Wheeler and Faith Gantz for data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Said Bakkar, Michael Wall, Diana Berman, Samir M. Aouadi & Marcus L. Young

  2. U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA

    Nicholas Ku & Raymond E. Brennan

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  1. Said Bakkar
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Correspondence to Marcus L. Young.

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Bakkar, S., Wall, M., Ku, N. et al. Al/Al2O3 metal matrix composites produced using magnetic field-assisted freeze-casting of porous ceramic structures. Journal of Materials Research 36, 2094–2106 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-021-00159-9

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