Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS)

DoITPoMS Micrograph Library Full Record for Micrograph 731

Full Record for Micrograph 731

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Micrograph no
731
Brief description
Metal matrix composite of magnesium and alumina fibres
Keywords
alumina Link to MATTER Glossary entry for alumina, magnesia, metal matrix composite
Categories
Composite, Metal matrix composite, Metal or alloy
System
Mg-Zn
Composition
Mg 94.05, Zn 5.62, Zr 0.19, Ce 0.10, Nd 0.03 (wt%) (RZ5 Alloy), reinforced with Alumina fibres with a volume fraction of 14%
Standard codes
Reaction
Processing
Cast using the pressureless infiltration technique.
Applications
Developmental work aimed at reducing the undesirable thermal properties of RZ5 magnesium alloy for hi-tech gearbox castings for formula one.
Sample preparation
Standard polishing techniques
Technique
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in backscattered electron imaging (BEI) mode
Length bar
10 μm
Further information
The presence of the alumina fibres acts to inhibit the thermal expansion of the magnesium at temperatures up to 300°C. This is necessary in design situations where tolerances are critical.
Contributor
R J Mitchell
Organisation
Department of Engineering, University of Leicester
Date
05/03/03
Licence for re-use
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
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