Effect of aging treatment on mechanical properties of (SiCw+SiCp)/2024Al hybrid nanocomposites

2024Al based composites reinforced by a hybrid of SiC whisker and SiC nanoparticle were fabricated by a squeeze casting route. In the (SiCw+SiCp)/Al composites, the volume fraction of SiC whisker is 20% and that of SiC nanoparticle is 2%, 5% and 7%, respectively. The as cast composites were solution treated followed by aging treatment. The experimental results show that the SiC nanoparticles are more effective in improving the hardness and tensile strength of the composites than SiC whiskers. The hardening kinetics of the composites is enhanced by reinforcements addition and the peak aging time is 4-5 h. The hardness of all the hybrid composite decreases at the initial aging stage, suggesting that dislocation recovery softening process coexists with precipitation hardening. DSC study shows that the GP zone formation of the hybrid composites is suppressed.