The effect of plastic deformation on mechanical properties of aluminium matrix composites reinforced with 2D crystals

Abstract

Abstract In this study, AA6061 matrix composites reinforced with multilayer graphene and MoS2 were analyzed. The composites were prepared by powder metallurgy using the spark plasma sintering and spark plasma texturing methods. Microstructure, physical and mechanical properties were investigated and compared with unreinforced AA6061 sinter and AA6061 sheet plate. The results showed that the application of spark plasma texturing positively influences the relative density and compressive yield strength of AA6061 matrix composites. Moreover, in composites with MoS2, significant differences in compressive yield strength between the centre and the edge of the sintered compacts were noticed. These differences are related to the formation of the MoAl12 phase as a result of the temperature gradient generated in the graphite die during sintering by the spark plasma texturing.