Thermal and Mechanical Properties of SiCp/Al Composite for Space Application

The particle reinforced metal composite is prepared for space application.The SiCp/Al composites with different size(10μm,20μm)are successfully fabricated through squeeze casting method with 45% volume fraction,and the thermal and mechanical properties of SiCp/Al composite are studied.Results show that after T6 heat treatment,the bending strength of SiCp/Al composites with particle size of 10μm and 20μm are 950 MPa and 780MPa respectively,and their average thermal of expansion coefficient are 13.100×10-6/℃and 12.300×10-6/℃.When the temperature increases to 100℃,their thermal conductivity are 157.29 J(/m.℃.s)and 175.23J(/m.℃.s),and their heat cycle dimensional stability 8.7771×10-5 and 6.302×10-5 respectively.As a result,the SiCp/Al is an excellent composite in space application.