The Research Of Preparation And Performance Of ATZ Ceramic Particle Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composite

The low-cost, high-performance ATZ particle locally reinforced A356aluminum (ATZ/A356) composite was prepared by squeeze infiltration with material of ATZ (nano Al2O3toughened zirconia ceramics) and A356aluminum alloy. And the preparation process of preform and ATZ/A356com-posite was developed; the effect of different particle sizes of ATZ particle on the microstructure and properties of composite was also explored.By analyzing the influence of sintering temperature and content of binder on porosity and compression strength of preform, we found that the tem-perature factor has little influence on porosity and compression strength of preform when the sintering temperature is above1000℃, the porosity of pre-form decreases slowly when the content of binder increases, because too many binders block the interconnected pores.By observing the macrostructure and microstructure of ATZ/A356com-posite, A356aluminum matrix infiltrates well, ATZ particle distributes uni-formly, the microstructure is uniform with hardly any macroscopic defects, lots of Si phases precipitate in the aluminum matrix, the grain size of the alu-minum matrix is fine. a thin layer of binder exists in the interface, the binder connects ATZ particles and A356aluminum matrix. Most of the interface is physical bonding, and there is local diffusion at the same time.The density of800-400um,400-100um,100-50um,50-2um ATZ/A356composites is3.96g/cm3,3.83g/cm3,3.68g/cm3,3.44g/cm3. The volume frac-tion of ATZ particles in800-400um,400-100um,100-50um,50-2um ATZ/A356composite is54.32%,48.4%,44.24%,38.89%;Bending strength, friction and wear properties were tested and analysed, and the mechanism was anlysed. The bending strength of ATZ/A356compos-ite increases with the size of ATZ particle decreasing; the bending strength of50-2um ATZ/A356composite is higher than that of A356aluminum alloy, but it is less than that of ATZ ceramic; the bending strength of local ATZ/A356composites is greatly higher than that of ATZ/A356composite. The volume loss of800-400um,400-100um,100-50um,50-2um ATZ/A356composite is3.08mm3,4.85mm3,5.42mm3,1.86mm3. The volume loss of ATZ/A356com- posite is approximately a quarter of that of aluminum alloy, the wear resis-tance of ATZ/A356composite is far better than that of aluminum alloy. By comparing with the worn morphology of ATZ/A356composite and alumi-num, the wear mechanism of the composite can be divided into three stages: the stage of adhesive friction and wear, the stage of fatigue friction and wear, the stage of abrasive wear.