Effect of sintering temperature on microstructure and selected properties of spark plasma sintered Al-SiC composites

Abstract The paper presents the results of study of microstructure and selected properties of spark plasma sintered Al matrix composites reinforced with 2 μm SiC particles. Composites with contents of 10, 20 and 30 wt % SiC were prepared. The sintering process was carried out by means of an HP D 25–3 furnace, using two sintering temperatures: 580 °C and 600 °C. As the reference material, pure Al was sintered under the same conditions. Composites with a near full density of 97–99% were obtained. The test results did not show a remarkable difference in the microstructure of the composites reinforced with SiC particles sintered at 580 °C and 600 °C. The microstructure of the sintered compacts consists of uniform grains, the SiC strengthening phase particles locate on the grain boundaries. The use of a higher sintering temperature had a positive effect on hardness and the bending strength of the tested materials.