Solid-phase recycling of non-compact waste of cast metal-matrix composites

Data on the effect of solid-phase processing of chip wastes of cast aluminum-matrix composites AK12+10 vol.% SiC on the structure and mechanical properties of the composite material are presented. It is shown that the mechanical processing of composites chip waste in a planetary ball mill reduces the mean size of reinforcement particles, increases the uniformity of their distribution over the matrix, refines the structure of the matrix material, and reduces the volume porosity during hot pressing. This increases the hardness and compressive yield strength of AK12+10 vol.% SiC composite material after solid-phase recycling by factors of ~ 1.9 and ~ 1.5, respectively. The results obtained indicate the expediency of using solid-phase recycling of cast metal-matrix composite waste.