Improving mechanical properties of nano-sized TiC particle reinforced AA7075 Al alloy composites produced by ball milling and hot pressing

Abstract Considering commonly employed carbide particles, titanium carbide (TiC) is regarded as an excellent reinforcement material due to its superior physical and mechanical characteristics and particularly appropriate interfacial bonding (wetting) ability with aluminum. In this study, 5 wt.% nanoparticle titanium carbide (TiCNP) reinforced AA7075 alloy composites were produced by ball milling and hot pressing. The effects of milling time (15 min, 1 h, 1.5 h, 2 h, 10 h) on the morphologic and crystallographic properties of powders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It was observed that particle size and morphology varied with milling time. The results indicated that the TiCNP were gradually dispersed into the matrix as ball-milling time increased and achieved a uniform dispersion after 2 h of milling. Consolidation of the milled powders was performed via hot pressing under 400 MPa and 430 °C for 30 min. The effect of milling time on the microstructural and mechanical properties of the bulk TiCNP/AA7075 composites was evaluated in terms of grain formation behavior, hardness, tensile strength, and relative density results. The results revealed that three times enhanced hardness value (277.55 HB) was achieved in a 10 h milled and hot-pressed sample than initial AA7075 alloy (94.43 HB) because of the hardened nanoparticles' homogeneous distribution within the matrix along with the increment in milling time. Tensile tests showed that the 1 h milled TiCNP/AA7075 composite's ultimate tensile strength (284.46 MPa) was increased by 40% compared with the initial AA7075 alloy (210.24 MPa). Considering test results, it was determined that the hardness values increased as a function of the milling time, but the optimum milling time, which means achieving the highest tensile strength value, was determined as 1 hour. This continuous increase in hardness is attributed to the homogeneous distribution of nanoparticles within the matrix, and increased hardness of particles originated from the severe plastic deformation due to advancing milling time. However, the incoherent variation of tensile strength values with milling time suggests that the increased hardness of particles and the changes in particle morphology after 1 h of milling deteriorates the sinterability and packing properties of the powders.