Preparation of Al-based bulk amorphous alloys and properties of Al/Al-Fe-V amorphous composites

Fe and V powderis in certain ratios are joined in 6061 base powder. Amorphous powder of 23 nm is obtained after milling around 70 h. Composites with different amorphous contents are prepared by plasma sintering. Amorphous reinforcement enters the grain boundary regions, which become crystalline-amorphous strengthening interface. Aluminum matrix grain boundary gap becomes wide and disappears slowly with increasing content of amorphous powder. Due to indentation size effect and micro crack, the hardness of the composites decreases with increasing load. The hardness-load curve slope is larger when the load is less than 1.96 N. In contrast, the curve slope is eased. The indentation sharp cracks extend in the form of scattering.