Aluminium alloy A356/SiCp Composite Powder Processing Via Mechanical Alloying Method

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the effect of particle size of matrix powder and milling time on mechanical alloying process of the aluminium alloy A356 reinforced with silicon carbide. The mechanical alloying process combines size reduction and mixing operation in a process. The average matrix powders size of 250, 180 and less than 180 microns were then mixed with silicon carbide of mesh number 1200 using the ball milling technique. After milling time of 40, 50 and 60 hours were achieved, the morphology and microstructures were examined. At 40 hours of milling, all powder samples’ shape changed from irregular to regular. At 50 hours of milling, size of composites powder increased which indicated cold weld. After 60 hours of milling, most of powders exhibited fine flattened powders. It was found that milling time increased with increasing the matrix phase size. The distribution of reinforced particles was better when milling time increased. In addition, porosities reduced with increased of milling time.