Analysis of the elastic properties of an interpenetrating AlSi12–Al2O3 composite using ultrasound phase spectroscopy

Abstract An interpenetrating composite fabricated by squeeze-casting a eutectic aluminium–silicon alloy into a porous alumina preform is studied in this work. The preform was fabricated by pyrolysis of cellulose fibres used as pore forming agent, pressing of the green ceramic body and subsequent sintering of alumina particles. The resulting preform had both micropores within the ceramic walls and macropores between those walls, which were infiltrated by the liquid metal. Composites with alumina contents varied in the range of 18–65 vol.% were studied. Three longitudinal and three shear elastic constants of the composites were determined using ultrasound phase spectroscopy on rectangular parallelepiped samples. Complete stiffness matrix of one sample was determined by modifying the sample geometry by cutting at the corners of the sample and subsequent ultrasonic measurements. All composites exhibit a moderately anisotropic behavior, which can be attributed to a non-random pore orientation distribution caused by uni-axial pressing of the preforms prior to sintering. The experimental results are compared with several theoretical micromechanical models.