Microstructure and Consolidation of Gas Atomized Al-Si Powder

The microstructure of the extruded Al-20Si bars showed a homogeneous distribution of eutectic Si and primary Si particles embedded in the Al matrix. The grain size of ${\alpha}-Al$ varied from 150 to 600 nm and the size of the eutectic Si and primary Si in the extruded bars was about 100 - 200 nm. The room temperature tensile strength of the alloy with a powder size $<26{\mu}m$ was 322 MPa, while for the coarser powder ($45-106{\mu}m$) it was 230 MPa. With decreasing powder size from $45-106{\mu}m$ to $<26{\mu}m$, the specific wear of all the alloys decreased significantly at all sliding speeds due to the higher strength achieved by ultrafine-grained constituent phases. The fracture mechanism of failure in tension testing and wear testing was also studied.