TEM investigations of aluminium composite materials reinforced with (C,N) ceramic particles

Investigations of composite materials based on EN AW-AlCu4Mg1 (A) aluminium alloy reinforced with Ti(C,N) particles with weight ratios of 5, 10 and 15% are presented in this paper. The metallographic investigations of composite materials show banding of the reinforcing particles in aluminium matrix after the performed extrusion process. The structure of the observed composite materials is oriented parallel to the extrusion direction. The amount of reinforcement particles Ti(C,N) has influence on the mechanical properties of the obtained composite materials. The increase of hardness is caused by the growth of the amount of reinforcement particles. Hardness increased from 89 HV1 for the material without the reinforcing phase to 143 HV1 for 15% of the Ti(C,N) reinforced material. Based on the microstructural investigations of the obtained composite materials, the uniform distribution of the reinforcing particles in the aluminium matrix was also revealed in the obtained structure.