Effect of rare earth Pr on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al2O3-SiO2(sf)/Al-Si composites

The Al2O3-SiO2(sf) (volume fraction, 20%)/Al-12.6Si metal matrix composites(MMCs) with or without rare earth Pr addition were fabricated by infiltration squeeze method. Effect of Pr addition on microstructures and fractographs of Al-Si MMCs was investigated by SEM and TEM. Tensile properties at room temperature and 200 °C were tested. It is shown that the addition of Pr is favorable to produce uniform microstructures and modify the eutectic Si crystal effectively. Compounds/intermetallics with high content of Pr are formed at the interface between short fiber and matrix. Yield strength(σ0.2), ultimate tensile strength(σb) and fracture elongation of Al-Si MMCs are improved by adding suitable amount of Pr. Compared with those values of Al-Si based MMC at 200 °C, σ0.2 and σb of MMC with 0.29% Pr are increased by 33% and 55%, respectively. The tensile fracture surface of Al-Si MMCs with Pr addition presents ductile fracture features.