An Investigation of Micro-Mechanical Properties of Al Matrix in SiC/Al Composite by Indentation Experiments

With the aid of indentation experiments, the micro-mechanical properties of the matrix of SiC particle-reinforced Aluminum composite were investigated with the load ranging from 80 to 480 mN and the loading speed ranging from 1.94 to 12.91 mN/s at room temperature. The results exhibited that under different loading conditions, the Young’s modulus decreased along with the increasing load due to the damage accumulation. As to micro hardness, it reduced with the increasing load, the indentation depth (i.e., indentation size effect), and the decreasing loading speed. Independent of the loading speed, the micro-hardness was not only related to the material elastic property, but also to plastic property with \(h_{\text{m}} /h_{\text{c}}\) and indenter geometry. The characteristic length was also associated with \(h_{\text{m}} /h_{\text{c}}\). The deduced effective strain rates reduced with the increasing load and the decreasing loading speed. According to the experiment results, the energy dissipation maps and the elastic strain map were constructed.