Investigation on microstructure and mechanical behavior of Al-ZrB2 composite prepared by microwave and spark plasma sintering

In the present work, aluminum-10 wt% ZrB2-1 wt% Co composite was prepared by two different sintering methods: microwave and spark plasma, and the relative density of 97 +/- 0.3% TD (at 640 degrees C) and 98 +/- 0.3% TD (at 450 degrees C) was obtained, respectively and XRD analysis revealed Al and ZrB2 as the only crystalline phases. Mechanical investigations revealed that the bending and compressive strength of SPS samples were 275 +/- 10 and 381 +/- 16 MPa, respectively, which were higher than those of microwave samples. The microhardness values of SPS and microwave sintered specimens were obtained 160 and 110 +/- 12 Vickers, respectively. Microstructural investigations revealed a homogeneous distribution of ZrB2 particles in the aluminum matrix in both methods. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.