Aging characteristics of short glass fiber reinforced ZA-27 alloy composite materials

Aging characteristics of short glass fiber reinforced ZA-27 alloy composite materials have been evaluated in the present study. The liquid metallurgy technique was used to fabricate the composites, in which preheated short gl ass fibers were introduced into the ZA-27 alloy melt above its liquidus tem perature, The aging temperature employed was 125 degrees C for 6, 12, 18, a nd 24 h, The aged alloy (no fibers) reached the peak hardness after 18 h, w hile the composites (regardless of filler content) reached the same hardnes s in 12 h, It is hypothesized that the aging treatment of a composite impro ves the strength of the interface between the short fibers and the matrix. This is confirmed by the tensile fractograph analysis, which indicates that at a given aging temperature, the composites aged for 18 h exhibit short f ibers that remain attached to the metal matrix, while those aged for 6 h un dergo debonding.