In situ reinforced aluminum composites by reactive infiltration

he first part of this work (chapters 3 and 4) describes the development of a new technique to process aluminum (Al) matrix composites. The technique is based on the reactive infiltration of liquid into porous ceramic oxide preforms, resulting in in-situ development of reinforcements, which are micro-composite aluminum oxide ;Aluminum matrix composites reinforced with micro-composite, ;The second part (chapter 5) of this research was undertaken to study crack propagation and deformation behavior of the newly developed Al matrix composites. Failure mechanisms were characterized as a function of reinforcement microstructure. It was found in composites (C50), without Mg in the preform, particle cracking was the dominant damage nucleation mechanism. In composites processed from Mg treated preforms (CMg50 and CMg100), crack propagation was primarily due to debonding at the particle/Al matrix interface. Propensity for particle cracking in C50 is attributed to a relatively smooth surface of the particle compared to those found in CMg50 and CMg100. R curve analysis of load-crack opening displacement plots showed that in C50 a high crack initiation toughness of 8...