CONTRIBUTIONS TO COMPUTER-AIDED EVALUATION OF MICROSTRUCTURE FOR PARTICLE REINFORCED COMPOSITES BY MEAN OF IMAGE PROCESSING

Abstract

Aluminum matrix composites reinforced with ceramic particles have already proved to be feasible choice when lightweight materials must provide high mechanical properties. Materials samples of composites with reinforcement levels between 0 and 20% in volume have been fabricated using standard powder metallurgy techniques. In order to improve uniformity of particle distribution and remove clustering, additional hot extrusion has been applied at different deformation ratios. Specialized software for image analysis has been used to evaluate correlation between microstructural images and ratios of hot extrusion. The image processing has included image acquisition, image processing, particle detection, particle measurement and classification in relevant granulometric fractions. Resulting histograms have determined strong correlation between particle distribution and deformations ratio and possibility to evaluate effectiveness of plastic deformation upon particle redistribution inside aluminum matrix.