Macro- and meso-mechanic investigations on the mechanical properties of heterostructured Al matrix composites featuring intragranular reinforcement

Abstract

Aluminum matrix composites (AMCs) reinforced with intragranular nano-sized Al2O3 were used as model material to investigate the effects of intragranular nano reinforcement on the mechanical properties at macro- and meso- levels. The results revealed that intragranular Al2O3 effectively facilitates the dislocation multiplication, which in turn enables the grain interior to endure high levels of plastic strain and consequently alleviates stress concentration at the grain boundary. Furthermore, intragranular Al2O3 leads to a collective enhancement in the intrinsic mechanical properties across domains of varying sizes, thereby contributing to the coordinated plastic deformation of heterogeneous grains, and enhancing the creep resistance of composite.

Keywords

• Al matrix composites
• heterogeneous grain structure
• intragranular reinforcement
• nanoindentation
• mechanical properties