Coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) study in metal matrix composite of CuSiC vs AlSiC

Metal matrix composites are widely used as advanced materials for thermal management applications. In view of the demands in higher temperature products application, materials with low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and high thermal conductivity are required. Copper Silicon Carbide (CuSiC) is highly rated as the best materials selected for this application because it has good thermal characteristics especially in CTE, but its density is almost high for high temperature electronic device application. An aluminium silicon carbide (AlSiC) composite, on the other hand, is a new candidate for electronic device application since it has low density and good CTE characteristics. CuSiC and AlSiC composites were fabricated via powder metallurgy method through variety volume fractions such as 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. In the present study, the comparison of CTE between CuSiC and AlSiC composites with different volume fraction of SiC particles has been carried out. The CTE of CuSiC and AlSiC composites were investigated and their responses between 25°C to 400°C were studied using horizontal dilatometer. Based on the experiment results, the density of CuSiC composites are decrease while the density of AlSiC composites is increase with increasing in SiC particles content. However, the porosity for both composites is increases with increasing in volume fraction of SiC particles. As of CTE, both composites showed decreased with increasing in SiC particles content that dispersed in their matrix. The experimental CTE values for both composites seem to be much lower than theoretical CTE value, which means that there has been excellent bonding between each particle after sintering process. The particles distribution has been observed to understand more on the aspect of SiC particles homogeneity in copper and aluminium matrix.