Abstract
This paper describes a study to investigate an improvement of the interface in SiC particle-reinforced Al-Li composite by coating the SiC particle with metallic oxide film. A coating method utilizing a sol-gel technique produced fine SiC powders covered with SiO2, TiO2, or ZrO2 metallic oxide film. The film thickness was not affected by the hydrolysis time of the sol solution under a dry argon atmosphere. The average thickness of the SiO2, TiO2 and ZrO2 films was about 10 nm, 8 nm and 27 nm, respectively. In metallic oxide coated SiC particle-reinforced Al-Li composite, TEM observation showed that the coating film was not damaged by fabrication processing, and that the formation of Al4C3 at the interface between the matrix and reinforcement was controlled by the coating film. The tensile strength and elongation of the extruded TiO2, coated sample increased by 12% and 24%, respectively, compared with the non-coated sample.