Cryomilled aluminum alloy and boron carbide nano-composite plate

The addition of ceramic particulate reinforcement via cryomilling can significantly increase the physical and mechanical properties of Al alloys. In the present study, boron carbide (B4C) was cryomilled with Al 5083 to form a nano-grained metal matrix powder. This powder was blended with unmilled Al 5083 to increase ductility and was then consolidated into plates by three methods: (1) hot isostatic pressing (HIPping) followed by high strain rate forging (HSRF), (2) HIPping followed by two-step quasi-isostatic forging (QIF), and (3) three-step QIF. The effects of process method on microstructure and mechanical behavior for the final consolidated nano-composite plates were investigated.