Effect of Tio2 particles on the mechanical, bonding properties and microstructural evolution of AA1060/Tio2 composites fabricated by WARB

Reinforced aluminum alloy base composites have become increasingly popular for engineering applications, since they usually possess several desirable properties. Recently, Warm Accumulative Roll Bonding (WARB) process has been used as a new novel process to fabricate particle reinforced metal matrix composites. In the present study, Tio₂ particles are used as reinforcement in aluminum metal matrix composites fabricated through warm accumulative roll bonding process. Firstly, the raw aluminum alloy 1060 strips with Tio₂ as reinforcement particle were roll bonded to four accumulative rolling cycles by preheating for 5 min at 300°C before each cycle. The mechanical and bonding properties of composites have been studied versus different volume contents of Tio₂ particles by tensile test, peeling test and vickers micro-hardness test. Moreover, the fracture surface and peeling surface of samples after the tensile test and peeling test have been studied versus different amount of Tio₂ volume contents by scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that the strength and the average vickers micro-hardness of composites improved by increasing the volume content of Tio₂ particles and the amount of their elongation and bonding strength decreased significantly.