Aluminium–copper composite materials were successfully fabricated using spark plasma sintering with Al and Cu powders as the raw materials. Al–Cu composite powders were fabricated through a ball milling process, and the effect of the Cu content was investigated. Composite materials composed of Al–20Cu, Al–50Cu, and Al–80Cu (vol.%) were sintered by a spark plasma sintering process, which was carried out at 520 °C and 50 MPa for 5 min. The phase analysis of the composite materials by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) indicated that intermetallic compounds (IC) such as CuAl₂ and Cu₉Al₄ were formed through reactions between Cu and Al during the spark plasma sintering process. The mechanical properties of the composites were analysed using a Vickers hardness tester. The Al–50Cu composite had a hardness of approximately 151 HV, which is higher than that of the other composites. The thermal conductivity of the composite materials was measured by laser flash analysis, and the highest value was obtained for the Al–80Cu composite material. This suggests that the Cu content affects physical properties of the Al–Cu composite material as well as the amount of intermetallic compounds formed in the composite material.

Aluminum (Al)-stainless steel 316L (SUS316L) composites were successfully fabricated by the spark plasma sintering process (SPS) using pure Al and SUS316L powders as raw materials. The Al-SUS316L composite powder comprising Al with 50 vol.% of SUS316L was prepared by a ball milling process. Subsequently, it was sintered at 630 °C at a pressure of 200 MPa and held for 5 min in a semisolid state. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that intermetallic compounds such as Al₁₃Fe₄ and AlFe₃ were created in the Al-SUS316L composite because the Al and SUS316L particles reacted together during the SPS process. The presence of these intermetallic compounds was also confirmed by using XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and EDS mapping. The mechanical hardness of the Al-SUS316L composites was analyzed by a Vickers hardness tester. Surprisingly, the Al-SU316L composite exhibited a Vickers hardness of about 620 HV. It can be concluded that the Al-SUS316L composites fabricated by the SPS process are lightweight and high-hardness materials that could be applied in the engineering industry such as in automobiles, aerospace, and shipbuilding.