Properties of Commercial Aluminium–Mica Composites Prepared by PM Route

Composites of commercial purity aluminium containing up to 8 wt-% mica have been prepared by a PM route. Aluminium and mica powders were mechanically mixed and compacted at a pressure of 472 MPa. Three sets of identical green compacts were sintered at 883 K for 1 h under pure nitrogen and hydrogen atmospheres and in vacuo(10 mPa). Sintered density, densification parameter, hardness, compressive strength, and wear of the sintered composites have been examined. The 4 wt-% composite sintered in nitrogen possessed the optimum properties and showed substantially better wear resistance than has previously been reported for similar composites prepared by a liquid metallurgy route. PM/0562