Bulk Al/SiC nanocomposite prepared by ball milling and hot pressing method

Nano-sized Al/SiC powders were prepared by mechanical alloying method. Two sorts of SiC particle, i.e., nano-sized and popular micron-sized SiC were utilized. The particle size and microstructure of the milled powder were characterised. Effects of the particle size and agglomerate state of SiC, as well as the microstructure of Al/SiC nanocomposite were studied by SEM and TEM. The results show that nano-sized SiC particles is dispersed in aluminium uniformly after ball milled for only 2 h, whereas the similar process need about 10 h for popular micron-sized SiC particle. The bulk Al/SiC nanocomposite can be fabricated by hot pressing the nano-sized Al/SiC powders at temperature about 723 K under pressure of 100 MPa.