Synthesis of Al-Mn-Ce alloy by the spark plasma sintering

The bulk Al90Mn8Ce2 alloy is sintered by spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. The microstructures and the hardness and wear resistance of the Al90Mn8Ce2 samples are investigated. The results show that bulk Al90Mn8Ce2 alloy with less than 2% porosity has been obtained at 673 K. At 723 K the Rockwell hardness of the alloy reaches 97 HRB and the wear resistance of the alloy is three times as high as that of the conventional A390 aluminum alloy. The high wear resistance of the Al90Mn8Ce2 alloy is attributed to the existence of the large amount of the intermetallic compounds.