Abstract

The variation of the microstructures and the mechanical properties with varying vacuum hot pressing temperature and pressure was investigated in PyM processed 20 vol%) SiCw/ 2124Al composites. As increasing the vacuum hot pressing temperature, the aspect ratio of whiskers and density of composites increased due to the softening of 2124Al matrix with the increased amount of liquid phase. The tensile strength of composite increased with increasing vacuum hot pressing temperature up to 570°C and became saturated above 570°C, To attain the high densification of composites above 99%, the vacuum hot pressing pressure was needed to be above 70 MPa. However, the higher vacuum hot pressing pressure above 70 MPa was not effective to increase the tensile strength due to the reduced aspect ratio of SiC whiskers from damage of whiskers during vacuum hot pressing. A phenomenological equation to predict the tensile strength of SiC_w/2124AI composite was proposed as a function including two microstructural parameters, i.e. density of composites and aspect ratio of whiskers. The tensile strength of SiC_w/2124AI were found more sensitive to the porosity than other P/M materials due to the higher stress concentration and reduced load transfer efficiency by the pores locating at whisker/matrix interfaces.