Mechanical properties of rapidly solidified Al-Si-Ni-Ce P/M alloys

In order to produce good wear resistance P/M aluminium alloys with high strength, addition of glass-forming elements of Ni and Ce in Al-hyper Si alloy were examined. The solubility of Si in Al increased with increasing Ni and Ce contents for rapidly solidified powders, resulting in Al sub 73 Si sub 19 Ni sub 7 Ce sub 1 powder consisting of an Al solid solution supersaturated with Si, Ni and Ce. The addition of Ni and Ce increased in mechanical strength without decreasing ductility and wear resistance. The tensile strength > 600 MPa and elongation > 1% bulk alloys were obtained for Al sub 73 Si sub 19 Ni sub 7 Ce sub 1 , Al sub 76 Si sub 19 Ni sub 4 Ce sub 1 and Al sub 78.5 Si sub 19 Ni sub 2 Ce sub 0.5 P/M alloys. Especially, Al sub 76 Si sub 19 Ni sub 4 Ce sub 1 P/M alloy extruded at 623K had a high tensile strength of approx750 MPa. The structural refinement by adding glass forming elements to Al-hyper Si alloy is concluded to be effective as a structural modification method.