BONDING PROPERTIES OF Al/Al2O3 BULK COMPOSITES PRODUCED VIA COMBINED STIR CASTING AND ACCUMULATIVE PRESS BONDING

In this study, Al/Al2O3 composites have been fabricated by combined stir casting and accumulative press bonding (APB) processes. The effect of APB method on the bonding properties of bulk samples such as the number of APB process, Al2O3 wt.% and the pressing temperature has been investigated by the peeling test. It is established that stronger bonding with a good quality can be obtained by increasing the pressing temperature and decreasing the Al2O3 particles wt.% as the reinforcement. Also, growing the step number of the APB method increases the bonding strength up to step#2 and then reduces the average peeling force due to the strain hardening result of the metallic matrix during the accumulative pressing. Finally, the effect of the APB method on the peeling surface of samples has been investigated using the scanning electron microscopy.