Evaluating microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of AA 5083/SiCnp nanocomposite material

The Objective of this study was to characterize microstructure and morphology of silicon-carbide nanoparticles reinforced aluminum nanocomposite via SEM and OM. Mechanical alloying of Al 5083 alloy powders and SiC nanoparticles led to uniform distribution of reinforcements in the aluminum matrix. The prepared powders were coldpressed in a steel die and repressed via. The green samples were sintered in an electric furnace under inert atmosphere. Density and porosity of the samples were measured before and after the CIP process. Microhardness tests were done on the disk shaped specimens to evaluate the effect of nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of the samples. Results indicated that the addition of silicon-carbide nanoparticles to Al 5083 alloy enhanced the microhardness from 64 for the unreinforced sample up to 165 for the nanocomposite containing 5%wt silicon-carbide nanoparticles.