Utilization of SiC and Cu Particles to Enhance Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Al Matrix Composites

In this work, SiC and Cu particles were utilized to enhance the thermal and mechanical properties of Al matrix composites. The ball-milling and cold-compact methods were applied to prepare Al matrix composites, and the uniform distribution of SiC and Cu particles in the composite confirms the validity of our preparation method. After characterizing the thermal conductivity and the compressibility of the prepared composites, results show that small particles have a higher potential to improve compressibility than large particles, which is attributed to the size effect of elastic modulus. The addition of SiC to the Al matrix will improve the compressibility behavior of Al matrix composites, and the compressibility can be enhanced by 100% when SiC content is increased from 0 to 30%. However, the addition of SiC particles has a negative effect on thermal conductivity because of the low thermal conductivity of SiC particles. The addition of Cu particles to Al-SiC MMCs could further slightly improve the compressibility behavior of Al-SiC/Cu MMCs, while the thermal conductivity could be enhanced by about 100% when the Cu content was increased from 0 to 30%. To meet the need for low density and high thermal conductivity in applications, it is more desirable to enhance the specific thermal conductivity by enlarging the preparation pressure and/or sintering temperature. This work is expected to supply some information for preparing Al matrix composites with low density but high thermal conductivity and high compressibility.