Evaluation of microstructural and nanomechanical performance of spark plasma sintered TiFe-SiC reinforced aluminium matrix composites

Abstract: tDue to the increasing demand for lighter materials with enhanced properties, the upgrade oftechniques to improve the production of high-performance composite materials is of greatinterest in modern technology. The microstructural and mechanical properties of sparkplasma sintered aluminium based composites with ferrotitanium (TiFe) and silicon carbide(SiC) reinforcements were investigated. High energy ball milling technique was adopted toeffectively disperse the particles SiC and TiFe reinforcements into the matrix of aluminium,and the admixed powders were compacted using spark plasma sintering technique. Thespecimens sectioned from the sintered compacts were analysed using an X-ray diffractome-ter (XRD), optical microscope (OM), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM)to understand the microstructural features and phase evolution of the sintered compos-ites. The mechanical properties of the composites were also investigated through hardness,nanomechanical and tribology tests. Results from the microstructural examinations con-ducted shows that the reinforcement particles were evenly dispersed within the aluminiummatrix, as a result of the milling process. Furthermore, all the sintered composites hadtheir microstructural features enhanced, but properties such as hardness, frictional coeffi-cient, and elastic modulus were more enhanced in specimen reinforced with 2%SiC+2%TiFeparticles. The reduced crystallite size recorded by the sintered specimens confirmed theeffectiveness of the milling process, and powder metallurgy route adopted for fabrication