Microstructure and mechanical properties of melt-spun aluminium alloys consolidated by spark plasma sintering and forging

Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is a promising sintering technology to produce nearly fully dense bulk pre-compacts from micro- or nano-structured aluminium alloys at lower temperatures and shorter sintering times. The densification behaviour and sintering response of melt-spun aluminium alloys sintered using SPS was studied depending on the processing parameters. The measured bending strength of the only SPSed material shows relatively low values due to the insufficient metallic bonding within the compacts. The influence of a subsequent forging on the mechanical properties of the SPSed compacts was also revealed and compared with hot extruded material. Forging conditions resulting in enhanced mechanical properties of the materials could be found.