Development and Characterization of Microwave Sintered SiC Reinforced 3003 Aluminium Alloy

Densification behaviour, hardness and microstructural evolution of microwave sintered 3003 aluminium alloy reinforced with varying SiC composition were investigated. The sintering was performed in a 2.45 GHz multimode microwave furnace at a temperature ranging from 524 °C to 557 °C. The study deals with the compacted 3003 aluminium alloy powder interacting with the microwaves and defines its density, hardness and grain size variation for different heating rates and SiC composition during the compaction and sintering process. The microhardness and grain size of a prepared sample were calculated by Vickers microhardness and optical microscopy and their grain size are measured using image analysis software. An increase and decrease in grain size were observed with heating rate and addition of SiC in 3003 Al alloy respectively, resulting in good mechanical properties. Optimum conditions for the heating rate and percentage of SiC were suggested which is beneficial for Aluminium based composite manufacturing industries. With the addition of SiC, the sintered density increases by 0.6%, 3% and 1.31% for heating rates 20 ℃, 30 ℃ and 40 ℃ respectively.