Effect of ECAP on Microstructure of SiCw/6061Al Composites Produced by Powder Metallurgy

The 6061 Al alloy based composites reinforced with 10 vol% SiC whiskers were prepared by powder metallurgy with the powders having the different sizes, i.e. < $30{\mu}m$ and > $30{\mu}m$ The composites were subjected to equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at various conditions and the microstructural changes during ECAP were examined In the composites SiC whiskers were clustered and randomly aligned. The clusters were relatively well distributed in the composite with the smaller initial powder size. After ECAP, the clusters were aligned parallel to flow direction and became smaller. In addition, the shape of clusters was changed from irregular to round. The microstructure of the ECAPed samples were compared with those of the conventionally hot-extruded composites. The uniform microstructure and enhanced microhardness could be obtained by using the powders having the smaller size, decreasing ECAP temperature and repeating ECAP.

분말야금공정으로 제조한 SiCw/6061Al 복합재료의 미세조직에 미치는 ECAP가공의 영향