Application of Ceramic Injection Moulding and Pressure Infiltration to the Manufacturing of Alumina/AlSi10Mg Composites

Ceramic injection moulding and gas pressure infiltration were employed for the manufacturing of alumina/AlSi10Mg composites. Porous ceramic preforms were prepared by mixing alumina powder with a multi-binder system and injection moulding of the powder polymer slurry. Then, the organic part was removed through a combination of solvent and thermal debinding, and the materials were finally sintered at different temperatures. The ceramic preforms manufactured in this way were infiltrated by an AlSi10Mg alloy. The microstructure and properties of the manufactured materials were examined using scanning electron microscopy, mercury porosimetry and bending strength testing. The results of transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy observations show that the fabricated composite materials are characterised by the percolation type of the microstructure and a lack of unfilled pores with good cohesion at the metal-ceramic interfaces. This is surprising considering that over 30% of the pores are smaller than 1 μm. The results show that the bending strength of the obtained composites decreased with increasing sintering temperature of the porous preforms.