Fabrication of in situ Al2O3/Al composite via remelting

Abstract In the present work, in situ Al 2 O 3 /Al composite was produced via CuO/Al composite and subsequent remelting, and the chemical reaction evolution and the fractography were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results showed that Al 2 O 3 could be successfully formed in situ by the addition of CuO to aluminum. The results also suggested that the fracture mechanism changed from interfacial debonding in copper oxide/Al composite to particle cracking in Al 2 O 3 /Al composite, which was largely attributed to interfacial bonding increased between in situ Al 2 O 3 particle and Al. The Cu–O stability in the present processing was also discussed from the point view of thermodynamics.