Aluminium‐silicon alloy and its composites reinforces by silicon carbide particles

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of SiC addition up to 60 percent SiC on the mechanical properties and thermal expansion of Al‐7vol.% Si/SiC composites.Design/methodology/approach: Composite specimens containing 7, 15, 30, 45 and 60 vol.% SiC_p are fabricated by pressureless infiltration technique. The obtained metal‐matrix composites (MMCs) then are characterized for density, porosity, microhardness, ductility, and coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE).Findings: The results show that the composite specimens have very low‐porosity volumes. Moreover, it is found that silicon carbide particles are distributed uniformly in the matrix. Both porosity and mean linear CTE of the composites decreases with silicon carbide volume fraction. However, higher amount of SiC_p reinforcement content tends to increase density, microhardness and improve ductility.Originality/value: The processing employed in this paper would enable realization of electronic packages made out of Al‐Si/SiC_p MMCs.