Dl. Zhang et al., THE MICROSTRUCTURES OF ALUMINUM-ALLOY METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES MANUFACTURED BY SQUEEZE CASTING, Journal of Materials Science, 28(8), 1993, pp. 2267-2272
Squeeze-cast metal-matrix composite ingots have been manufactured by r
ecasting A356/10% SiC(p) and by melt infiltrating A357/Al2O3f. The res
ulting microstructures have been examined by optical and transmission
electron microscopy. The primary aluminium in squeeze-cast A356/10% Si
C(p) exhibits a dendritic structure with eutectic silicon particles an
d SiC particulate distributed throughout the interdendritic regions. U
nlike squeeze-cast monolithic A357, the primary aluminium dendrite arm
spacing and eutectic-silicon particle size in squeeze-cast A356/10% S
iC(p) are not strongly affected by an increased cooling rate at high a
pplied pressure. With low die and preform temperature, a high applied
pressure is essential to obtain complete melt infiltration in A357/Al2
O3f. During melt infiltration, the ceramic preform acts as a filter, p
referentially allowing silicon rich liquid to pass through.