Influence of particle size and spatial distribution of B4C reinforcement on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of precipitation strengthened Al alloy matrix composites

We report on an investigation of the influence of reinforcement particle size on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of Al metal matrix composites. In our work, Al 7075/B4C composites containing three types of B4C particle sizes (56.9 µm, 4.2 µm and 2.0 µm) were synthesized and studied. For a constant value of volume fraction of B4C, the composite with coarse reinforcement particles exhibited a relatively homogeneous and discrete...