Effect of SiCp addition on age-hardening of aluminium composite and closed cell aluminium composite foam

The age hardening behavior of solid Al-alloy– SiCp composite and closed cell Al-alloy–SiCp composite cellular materials has been examined and compared. The peak aging period of these materials were also compared with that of the solid unreinforced alloy. The effect of SiCp content on the peak aging time has been examined. It was found that the composite aged faster than the alloy irrespective of SiCp content, wherein peak aging time was invariant to SiCp content. On the other hand, while the closed cell composite foam reached a peak aged condition faster than the alloy when SiCp content was less than 10 wt%, further increases in SiCp content delayed the agehardening kinetics