Effects of Ti-coated SiC_P on structures and mechanical properties of SiC_P/Al2014 composites

The surface of SiC_P was Ti-coated via melt salt, and the Ti-coated SiC_P/Al2014 composites were fabricated by stir casting method. The effect law of size and volume fraction of Ti-coated SiC_P on the microstructure and mechanical properties of SiC_P/Al2014 composites were investigated. The results show that the Ti-coated processing could effectively improve the distribution uniformity of Ti-coated SiC_P in Al matrix. When the size of Ti-coated SiC_P keeps constant, the distribution uniformity of Ti-coated SiC_P in Al matrix decreases with increasing volume fraction of SiC_P. When volume fraction of SiC_P keeps constant, the distribution uniformity of Ti-coated SiC_P in Al matrix increases with increasing size of SiC_P. When size of SiC_P keeps constant, the tensile strength of SiC_P/Al2014 composites at room temperature increases first then decreases with increasing volume fraction of particles. The SiC_P/Al2014 composites with 4% volume fraction of particles possess the highest tensile strength, i.e., composites containing SiC_P with sizes of 5 μm and 10 μm correspond to tensile strength of 524 MPa and 536 MPa, respectively. The tensile strength of SiC_P/Al2014 composites at high temperature (493 K) increases with increasing volume fraction of SiC_P. SiC_P/Al composites with 6% volume fraction of particles possess the highest tensile strength. The composite with 5 μm-SiC_P exhibits tensile strength of 308 MPa while that with 10 μm-SiC_P exhibits tensile strength of 320 MPa when the volume fraction of particles is 6%.