Microstructure and Properties of Aluminum-Copper Composites Prepared by Hot-Pressure Sintering

Aluminum (Al) and Copper (Cu) have been used in graded density impactors. Al-Cu composites with different compositions have been prepared by hot pressing sintering. Intermetallic compounds were produced when the temperature was above 723 K, while they can’t be found at the temperature of 723 K. The relative density of Al-Cu composites from pure Al to pure Cu consolidated at 723K all exceeded 98.5%. The optimum sintering conditions were then determined to sintering temperature of 723 K, uniaxial pressure of 100 MPa, and duration time of 2 h. Al and Cu were mixed homogeneously and well compacted, and no obvious pores were found. The thickness of diffusion layer between Al and Cu was very thin, only about 0.6 μm. The wave impedance values increased almost linearly from 16.98×10 6 to 40.66×10 6 kg/m 2 ·s with increasing Cu content in Al-Cu composite from 0 to 100 vol.%, which was well consistence with the values calculated according to the rule of mixtures. The elastic modulus of different compositions matched well with the theoretical model of Voigt and Reuss. Highly densified Al-Cu composites without intermetallic compounds were successfully prepared using hot-pressure sintering, which was the basis of fabricating Al-Cu system graded density impactors.