Developing connectivity of the phases in a short fibre reinforced aluminium piston alloy subjected to

The evolution of the micro-structure during creep of an AlSil2-CuMgNi piston alloy with 15 vol% of Al2O3 short fibres is investigated by means of synchrotron micro-tomography. The results reveal a 3D morphology of the rigid phases in the composite: the eutectic-Si, the short fibres and the Fe- and Ni-rich intermetallic particles, which form an interconnected hybrid reinforcement. The connectivity of these phases increases during creep exposure at 300 degrees C due to the diffusion induced ripening of Si and of the intermetallic particles. The hybrid reinforcement reaches almost complete percolation after 6400 h of creep exposure. The fibre orientation analysed by three-dimensional Fast Fourier Transformation does not indicate any reorientation of the fibres along the load direction. The formerly observed strengthening effect during creep exposure is attributed to the increasing load carrying capacity of the interconnected hybrid reinforcement. The analysis of creep damage during secondary creep stage shows the increase of the void volume fraction by a factor of 2 with respect to the void content from processing, while the number of voids per volume remains practically constant. The voids are located at interfaces of the rigid phases and not within the alpha-aluminium matrix.