Fabrication and Characterization of 5 vol.% (Al2O3)p + 8 vol.% (Al2O3)f/A336 Hybrid Micron and Nano-Composites

Hybrid composites are fabricated by adding two reinforcements into matrix materials so that the expected excellent properties can be achieved through the combined advantages of short fibres, and different size particles (micron or nano), which provide a high degree of design freedom. In this paper, hybrid preforms were produced with the different size reinforcement of the Al2O3 particles and short fibres. The Al-Si alloy-based hybrid composites reinforced by 5 vol. % Al2O3 particles and 8 vol. % Al2O3 fibres were fabricated by preform-squeezing casting route. The structure and performance of composite materials were studied with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results show that the reinforcements, both particles and fibres, distribute homogeneously in the matrix materials, and the properties of composites are found to improve in comparison with the matrix Al-Si alloy