Characterization of Al/B4C composite materials fabricated by powder metallurgy process technique for nuclear applications
SILVAIN, Jean-François
Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux [ICMCB]
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
< Reduce
Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux [ICMCB]
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Language
en
Article de revue
This item was published in
Journal of Nuclear Materials. 2022-07, vol. 565, p. 153724 (11 p.)
Elsevier
English Abstract
Aluminum (Al) matrix composites with boron carbide (B4C) reinforcements were fabricated by solid state powder metallurgy using the hot-pressing process. Composite materials were fabricated at different volume fractions of ...Read more >
Aluminum (Al) matrix composites with boron carbide (B4C) reinforcements were fabricated by solid state powder metallurgy using the hot-pressing process. Composite materials were fabricated at different volume fractions of B4C particles, ranging from 2% to 12%, to evaluate the impact of B4C reinforcements on the thermal and mechanical properties of the composite materials. Thermal properties, such as thermal conductivity (TC) and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), were measured and modeled. The mechanical properties were evaluated by Vickers macro-hardness (HV) and tensile tests to obtain the strain hardening threshold (σy), ultimate tensile stress (UTS), and elongation (A) of the developed composites. Microstructures were observed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) to show the homogeneity of composites materials with different B4C contents and to characterize the Al/B4C interface. This article shows that incorporating B4C particles until 12% in the Al matrix increased the hardness (+85%) and strain hardening threshold (+55%) of the composite material and decreased the ductility. An increase, up to 8 vol.% B4C, of mechanical properties which a decrease of the elongation at rupture is measured. The strain hardening threshold and the UTS strength increased up to 37% and 13%, respectively. For higher B4C volume fraction, Al/B4C become more brittle leading to very limited plastic phases. Moreover, both the TC and the CTE decreased as a function of the increase of the B4C volume fraction; 20% decrease of TC was measured for an Al/B4C (12 vol.%). The thermal and mechanical properties were correlated with the microstructure of the Al matrix and of the Al-B4C interfacial zone.Read less <
English Keywords
Aluminum matrix composite
Boron carbide
Thermal properties
Mechanical properties
Powder metallurgy
ANR Project
Interactions and transfers at fluids and solids interfaces - ANR-11-LABX-0017
Origin
Hal imported