Influence of oxidation of i-AlCuFeB particles on the formation of Al-based composites prepared by solid state sintering

Samuel Kenzari (1) , Patrick Weisbecker (1) , Guillaume Geandier (2) , Vincent Fournée (1) , Jean-Marie Dubois (1)

1 LSG2M - Laboratoire de Science et Génie des Matériaux et de Métallurgie
2 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

We present new results concerning the formation of Al-based composites reinforced by icosahedral i-Al₅₉Cu_25.5Fe_12.5B₃ quasicrystalline particles prepared by solid state sintering. The issue is to limit the diffusion of Al from the matrix to the quasicrystalline particles during sintering in order to overcome the transformation of the i-phase into the ω-Al₇Cu₂Fe tetragonal phase. Here we have investigated the influence of an oxidation pre-treatment of the quasicrystalline particles onto the kinetics of this phase transformation by high energy X-ray diffraction. The quasicrystalline particles were annealed either in vacuum or in air, leading to different thickness of the oxide layer. We show that the kinetics of Al diffusion is efficiently reduced by the oxide barrier, enabling the formation of composite materials with no phase transformation during the sintering process. The dependence of the tribological properties of these composites is investigated as a function of the volume fraction of i-AlCuFeB particles.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Samuel Kenzari, Patrick Weisbecker, Guillaume Geandier, Vincent Fournée, Jean-Marie Dubois. Influence of oxidation of i-AlCuFeB particles on the formation of Al-based composites prepared by solid state sintering. Philosophical Magazine, 2005, 86 (03-05), pp.287-292. ⟨10.1080/14786430500251806⟩. ⟨hal-00513563⟩