Damping and mechanical behavior of graphene nanoplatelets reinforced Al-30Zn alloy matrix bioinspired laminated composites by two steps flake powder metallurgy

• Published in: Materials characterization Vol. 212; p. 113940
• Main Authors: Zhong, Zheng, Jiang, Xiaosong, Sun, Hongliang, Du, Peinan, Wu, Zixuan, Yang, Liu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Characterization; Composites; Damping; Powder methods; Characterization; Damping; Composites; Powder methods
• ISSN: 1044-5803; 1873-4189
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matchar.2024.113940

Damping and mechanical properties are often incompatible in metallic materials. In this paper, bio-inspired laminated graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) reinforced Al-30Zn alloy matrix composites with an outstanding combination of damping-mechanical properties are prepared using a flake powder metallurgy (FPM) process. The increased grain/phase boundary owing to grain refinement improves the intrinsic damping properties of the composites, while the lamellar grains promote the oriented alignment and crack deflection of GNPs. The multilayered GNPs with large specific surface area experienced repeated stretching and compression during cyclic bending deformation, leading to intense interfacial frictional slip, and GNPs' high intrinsic thermal conductivity also helped to dissipate heat quickly, which promoted mechanical energy dissipation. The improvement in mechanical properties is mainly attributed to grain refinement, the load transfer effect of GNPs and their interaction with dislocations. The Al-30Zn-0.5GNPs composites showed the best combination of damping properties and mechanical properties. •Two steps flake powder metallurgy was utilized for the preparation of Al-30Zn-GNPs composites.•Laminated structure of Al-30Zn alloys facilitates interfacial damping.•Incorporation of GNPs improves damping properties and mechanical properties.•Interfacial and dislocation damping are the main damping mechanisms in composites.