Investigation on microstructure and mechanical behavior of Al–ZrB2 composite prepared by microwave and spark plasma sintering

In the present work, aluminum-10 wt% ZrB2-1 wt% Co composite was prepared by two different sintering methods: microwave and spark plasma, and the relative density of 97±0.3% TD (at 640 °C) and 98±0.3% TD (at 450 °C) was obtained, respectively and XRD analysis revealed Al and ZrB2 as the only crystalline phases. Mechanical investigations revealed that the bending and compressive strength of SPS samples were 275±10 and 381±16 MPa, respectively, which were higher than those of microwave samples. The microhardness values of SPS and microwave sintered specimens were obtained 160 and 110±12 Vickers, respectively. Microstructural investigations revealed a homogeneous distribution of ZrB2 particles in the aluminum matrix in both methods.