A rapid route for synthesizing Ti-(AlxTiy/UFG Al) core-multishell structured particles reinforced Al matrix composite with promising mechanical properties

A new type of Al-matrix composites reinforced by in-situ Ti-(AlxTiy/Ultrafine-grained Al) core-multishell structured particles were successfully fabricated at relatively low temperature (450-580 °C) by SPS technique within a very short time. The composite sintered at 580 °C exhibits a yield strength improvement of 64.5% over the unreinforced matrix and a satisfactory elongation of 27%. The defects, UFG-Al grains and local-connection accelerated the Al-Ti inter-diffusion and consolidation process of composites. Although residual voids near AlxTiy/Al interface may induce the cracks, discontinuous tough intermetallic-phases inside AlxTiy layer and soft Ti-core can effectively decelerate the crack-propagation.