Microstructural characteristics and mechanical behavior of microwave-assisted sintered ferromagnetic FeCoNi1.5CrCu HEAp/Al matrix composites

Highlights: • The effect of microwave sintering temperature on microstructure and mechanical behavior of HEAp/Al composites is investigated. • Ferromagnetic FeCoNi1.5CrCu particles improve the microwave absorption capacity of composites and reinforce the composites under microwave conditions. • The evolution mechanism of interface bonding in the preparation of ferromagnetic HEAp/Al composites under the condition of microwave assisted sintering is elucidated. -- Abstract: The preparation of metal particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites by powder metallurgy has been widely studied in recent years. In this work, the effect of microwave sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) reinforced aluminum matrix composites prepared by powder metallurgy was investigated. Due to the outstanding microwave absorbing property of ferromagnetic HEAs particles, the composites sintering proceeded efficiently. At 480 °C, the aluminum matrix in the composite material is more compact, and the HEAs particles in the composite material are more evenly distributed, and the interface between HEAs particles and aluminum matrix is smooth. At 500 °C, the intensity of HEAs diffraction peak in the composite material changes significantly. At 520 °C, AlNi solid solution phase with BCC structure appears in the HEAs region, and the HEAs structure changes from FCC to FCC + BCC, and Al₅Cr₈, Al₅Co₂ and Al₂Cu phases precipitate. At 480 °C, the nanohardness and elastic modulus at the interface reaches 1245.31 MPa and 72.45 GPa, respectively, showing relatively excellent interfacial bonding strength. The elastic modulus of both HEAs reinforcement and aluminum matrix decrease at a sintering temperature above 480 °C, and the composites have hard and brittle characteristics. At 480 °C, the macroscopic compression and yield strengths of composites are ~ 421.2 MPa and ~ 289.5 MPa, and the maximum shrinkage rate is ~65.3%, exhibiting excellent strength and toughness.