Shear testing of Al and Al-Al4C3 materials at elevated temperatures

The shear creep properties of the Al-Al4C3 composite material were investigated for the first time at different temperatures ranging from 523 K to 773 K and different shear Stress levels ranging from 25 to 40 MPa in comparison to pure aluminum. The specimens were loaded in pure shear using a specially designed patented specimen geometry and a prototype shear-testing machine. The experimental results indicate that the Al4C3 composite aluminum exhibits shear creep resistance more than four orders of magnitude higher than that of the unalloyed aluminum and can be loaded at shear stress levels exceeding two times those of the pure aluminum material.