Heterogeneous coarsening of Pb phase and the effect of Cu addition on it in a nanophase composite of Al–10 wt%Pb alloy prepared by mechanical alloying

A nanophase composite of Al–10 wt%Pb alloy was prepared by mechanical alloying. The coarsening behavior of Pb phase in the composite during heating process was investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nanoindentation test. The present work shows that the Pb phase grew substantially and had two different size distributions when the heating temperature was above 823 K. The different size distributions of Pb phase were owing to different grain size ranges of Al matrix in different regions, which led to the different growth rates of the Pb phase in those regions. It has been proposed that the different size ranges of Al grain appeared upon heating were originated from a statistical size distribution of Al grains in the as-milled powder. With the addition of a small amount of Cu, the heterogeneous growth of Pb phase can be suppressed, and the coarsening of Pb phase shows two distinct rates. This indicates that the coarsening is mainly governed by grain boundary diffusion and lattice diffusion of Al matrix in the initial stage and the later one, respectively.