High strength aluminium alloys prepared by nanocrystallisation of amorphous powders using spark plasma sintering

Abstract

Al based nanocrystalline alloys with high fracture strength are fabricated using consolidation and controlled crystallisation strategy of amorphous powder precursors. The sintered product exhibits high specific strength of 3.18 × 10⁵ Nm kg^− 1. The compacted microstructure and ultrafine grains caused by sufficient densification and crystallisation of Al based amorphous powders are responsible for considerable properties of the sample. Furthermore, the densification process and mechanical behaviour of the sintered Al based nanocrystalline alloy are investigated in detail. The Al based nanocrystalline alloys prepared by synergetic process of powder consolidation and crystallisation of amorphous can exhibit much improved mechanical properties compared with conventional Al alloys, which can have potential engineering applications.

Keywords:

• Aluminium alloy
• Amorphous powder
• Sintering

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51204062), the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (grant no. E201425), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. HIT.KLOF.2013021) and the Special Financial Grant from China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant no. 2013T60363).