Fabrication and Mechanical Behavior of Ex Situ Mg-Based Bulk Metallic Glass Matrix Composite Reinforced with Electroless Cu-Coated SiC Particles

Xin Wang; Lichen Zhao; Ximei Hu; Yongjian Cheng; Shuiqing Liu; Peng Chen; Chunxiang Cui

doi:10.3390/ma10121371

Fabrication and Mechanical Behavior of Ex Situ Mg-Based Bulk Metallic Glass Matrix Composite Reinforced with Electroless Cu-Coated SiC Particles

Materials (Basel). 2017 Nov 30;10(12):1371. doi: 10.3390/ma10121371.

Authors

Xin Wang¹, Lichen Zhao², Ximei Hu³, Yongjian Cheng⁴, Shuiqing Liu⁵, Peng Chen⁶, Chunxiang Cui⁷

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China. ahaxin@hebut.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China. zhlch@hebut.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China. huximei@hebut.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China. chengyongjianrest@163.com.
⁵ Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China. liushuiqing0824@126.com.
⁶ Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China. m15900225021@163.com.
⁷ Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China. hutcui@hebut.edu.cn.

Abstract

Magnesium-based bulk metallic glass matrix composites (BMGMCs) have better plasticity than the corresponding bulk metallic glasses (BMGs); however, their strength and density are often compromised due to the fact that the effective reinforcement phase is mostly plastic heavy metal. For lightweight SiC-particle reinforced BMGMCs, interface wettability and the sharpness of the particles often reduce the strengthening effect. In this work, SiC particles were coated with a thin Cu coating by electroless plating, and added to Mg₅₄Cu_26.5Ag_8.5Gd₁₁ melt in an amount of 5 wt % to prepare a BMGMC. The microstructure of the interface, mechanical behavior and fracture morphology of the BMGMC were studied by scanning electron microscopy and quasi-static compression testing. The results showed that the Cu coating improved the wettability between SiC and the matrix alloy without obvious interfacial reactions, leading to the dispersion of SiC particles in the matrix. The addition of Cu-coated SiC particles improved the plastic deformation ability of Mg₅₄Cu_26.5Ag_8.5Gd₁₁ BMG, proving that electroless plating was an effective method for controlling the interface microstructure and mechanical behavior of BMGMCs.

Keywords: bulk metallic glass; bulk metallic glass matrix composite; electroless plating; mechanical properties; silicon carbide.