Microstructures and mechanical properties of aluminum matrix composites fabricated from Al-x wt.% Zr(CO3)2 (x = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25) systems

The aluminum matrix composites reinforced by Al2O3 and Al3Zr particulates were fabricated from Al-x wt.% Zr(CO3)2 (x = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25) systems via magneto chemistry in situ reaction at 1173 K. XRD analysis shows that α-Al2O3 and Al3Zr reinforcement phases have been obtained. The microstructure analysis indicates that the reinforcement particulates are distributed uniformly in the aluminum matrix and the size is 0.08-0.12 μm. The mechanical properties test results show that the tensile and yield strengths of the composites are much higher than that of pure aluminium. The values of the tensile, yield strengths and elongations change with x from 5 to 25. Especially when x = 20, the composite exhibits the highest tensile and yield strengths with kb = 2.151 and ks = 3.298, reaching 167.8 and 138.5 MPa, respectively.