Possibility of wettability improvement of Al2O3 preforms infiltrated by liquid aluminium alloy by deposition Ni-P coating

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to present the method of wettability improvement of sintered Al2O3 preforms by deposition of Ni-P coating.Design/methodology/approach: The ceramic preforms were manufactured by sintering of powder Al2O3 Alcoa CL 2500, with the addition of pores forming agent in the form of carbon fibres Sigrafil C10 M250 UNS of Company SGL Carbon Group. The internal surfaces of ceramic preforms were coated with Ni-P in order to improve the Al2O3 wettability by the liquid aluminium alloy. Coated by Ni-P ceramic preforms were pressure infiltrated with the liquid EN AC-AlSi12 alloy. Metallographic examinations were made in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) of the structures and chemical composition of obtained materials.Findings: Presented in this paper, deposition technology of Ni-P coating on the inner surfaces of ceramic preform can be used as a method of improving the wettability of porous Al2O3 ceramics by infiltrated liquid aluminium alloy.Practical implications: The composite materials made by the developed method can find application in many industries as the elements of devices where beside the benefits from utilizable properties the small weight is required.Originality/value: The obtained results show the possibility of manufacturing the composite materials by the pressure infiltration method of porous sintered preforms inner coated by Ni-P with liquid aluminium alloy being a cheaper alternative for conventional materials.