Development of Heat Resistant Aluminum Composite with Minor Addition of Alumina Nanofibers (Nafen™)

• Published in: Inorganic materials : applied research Vol. 11; no. 5; pp. 1045 - 1050
• Main Authors: Agureev, L. E., Laptev, I. N., Ivanov, B. S., Kanushkin, A. I., Kostikov, V. I., Rizakhanov, R. N., Eremeeva, Zh. V., Ashmarin, A. A., Ivanov, A. V., Vysotina, E. A., Panasova, G. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aluminum composites; Aluminum oxide; Ambient temperature; Bend strength; Boron; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Densification; Diamond pyramid hardness; Fine structure; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Inorganic Chemistry; Materials for Aerospace Technology; Materials Science; Nanofibers; Nanoparticles; Phase composition; Powder metallurgy; Powdered aluminum; Sintering (powder metallurgy); Vacuum furnaces; aluminum composite; alumina nanofibers; powder metallurgy
• ISSN: 2075-1133; 2075-115X
• DOI: 10.1134/S2075113320050020

This article describes development of an aluminum composite with a matrix of mixed powdered aluminum, nickel, copper, and boron hardened by 0.01–0.1 wt % alumina nanofibers (Nafen™). The composite samples have been produced by conventional powder metallurgy including pressing and sintering in vacuum furnace. The microstructure and fine structure of aluminum composites, average grain diameter, density, phase composition, Vickers microhardness, and ultimate bending strength at ambient temperature and at 300°C have been analyzed. According to X-ray diffractometry, the samples contain the phases of Al, Al
3
Ni, CuAl
2
, Al
7
Cu
23
Ni, and Ni
4
B
3
. The microhardness increases monotonically with concentration of alumina nanofibers. It has been established that, at ambient temperature, the strength of the samples with 0.01–0.1 wt % of alumina nanofibers is higher by 30% on average than that of the matrix. During tests at 300°C, the best result has been shown by the sample with 0.01 wt % of nanoparticles; its strength was by 14% higher than that of the matrix.