Investigations on mechanical and wear behaviour of lm25 aluminium alloy silicon carbide foam interpenetrating phase composites

Abstract

Silicon Carbide foams (SiCf) are used as potential materials for heat newlineshielding elements in the aerospace, automotive, and chemical industries due newlineto their exceptional thermal stability, low density, and high hardness. newlineHowever, the very low strength of SiCf limits its usage for developing loadbearing newlinestructural components. Impregnating a suitable metal into the SiCf newlinemakes them suitable for high-strength applications. Also, the processing route newlinedesignated for impregnating the metal into the SiCf determines the strength of newlinethe resulting material. newlineThis research work outlines the mechanical and wear behaviour of the newlinenovel LM25 aluminium alloy-SiCf-based Interpenetrating Phase Composites newline(IPCs) developed using the gas pressure infiltration technique. The LM25 newlinealloy was infiltrated into SiCf with three different pore densities, specifically newline10, 20, and 30 pores per inch (PPI). The macroscopic morphology of the IPCs newlinerevealed that a strong bond has been established between LM25 and SiCf. newlineThe compressive strengths of IPCs developed using 10, 20, and newline30 PPI-SiCf were 97.5, 53.65, and 32.18 times higher than those of the newlinerespective SiCf. Similarly, the fracture strength and fracture toughness of the newlineIPCs manufactured using 10, 20, and 30 PPI-SiCf were 7.44, 5.85, and newline6.05 times better than those of the respective SiCf. Amongst the three variants newlineof IPCs, the IPC developed using 10 PPI-SiCf possessed the highest values of newlinecompressive strength, fracture strength, and fracture toughness. However, the newlineIPC developed using 30 PPI-SiCf exhibited superior resistance to indentation. newlineMacro- and micro-structural analyses were conducted to establish the failure newlinemodes of the IPCs under both compression and flexure loads. newline