Enhanced microhardness of Al – 5 wt.% TiC composite by alloying with Cu

Alumium (Al) – based materials are highly demanded for automobiles, transportation, and aerospace etc. In this research, Al – based TiC composites were fabricated using powder metallurgy (P/M) technology from Al, Cu, and TiC powders with the compositions of Al – 5 wt.% TiC, and Al – 5 Cu/ 5wt.% TiC. The composite powders were well mixed and compacted using cold pressing technique with an applied pressure of 500 MPa. The compacted samples were sintered at 550 oC in Ar atmosphere for 1 h. The distribution of TiC particles in the Al matrix was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The phase formation of sintered composite was characterized using Xray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that TiC particles homogeneously distributed in the Al matrix. The density of Al -5 wt.%TiC and Al – 5 Cu/ 5 wt.%TiC composites achieved 96.7 and 98.0 % of theoretical density, respectively. The microhardness of pure Al increases from 27 HV to » 38 HV when reinforcing with 5 wt.% TiC, whilst that of the Al – 5TiC composite increase to » 55 Hv when alloying with 5 wt.% Cu.