1. State Key Laboratory of Structural Analyses for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China 2. Institute of Applied Electronics, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China
Cite this article:
Zhaozhao Lü,Yufei ZU,Jianjun SHA,Yuqiang XIAN,Wei ZHANG,Ding CUI,Conglin YAN. Fabrication and Mechanical Properties of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Compositeswith Cu Interphase. Acta Metall Sin, 2019, 55(3): 317-324.
Carbon fiber-reinforced aluminum matrix composite has been considering as an ideal structural material for aerospace and automotive industries due to its high specific strength, high specific modulus, high thermal and electric conductivity as well as low coefficient of thermal expansion. However, for the fabrication of carbon fiber-reinforced aluminum matrix composites, the critical issues are the poor wettability and chemical reaction between carbon fibers and aluminum matrix. In order to improve the wetting behavior and prevent the chemical reaction between carbon fibers and the aluminum matrix, the electroplating technology assisted with ultra-sonic vibration dispersion method was applied to fabricate the copper interphase on the carbon fibers. It was found that a smooth, continuous copper interphase with homogeneous thickness could be deposited on carbon fibers. The carbon fiber-reinforced aluminum matrix composite (Cf/Al) was fabricated by the melt-infiltration process under pressure and vacuum conditions. The microstructure observations found that the carbon fibers homogeneously dispersed in the aluminum matrix by the introduction of copper interphase. There was no obvious carbon fiber damage caused by the reaction between carbon fibers and Al matrix. When the volume fraction of carbon fibers was 8%, the density of Cf/Al was about 2.70 g/cm3. Compared with pure Al, the mean tensile stress of Cf/Al composite was increased from 59.1 MPa to 144.9 MPa, which increased by 143%. The observation of fracture surfaces revealed the occurrence of the sliding and pull out of carbon fibers under tensile stress. The sliding and pull-out of carbon fibers can refrain the crack initiation and propagation of micro-cracks in the Al matrix. Therefore, the tensile strength of Cf/Al composite was improved significantly.
Fig.1 Schematic of experiment setup used for the electroplating of Cu interphase on carbon fibers
Fig.2 Schematic for the fabrication of carbon fiber-reinforced aluminum matrix (Cf/Al) composites
Fig.3 SEM images for the carbon fibers (CFs) before (a) and after (b) pretreatment, images for the fiber bundles with Cu interphase by conventional (c) and improved (d) methods
Fig.4 Surface (a) and cross-section (b) morphologies of carbon fibers with Cu interphase
Fig.5 SEM image of Cf/Al composites (a) and the magnified image of selected area in Fig.5a (b)
Fig.6 XRD spectra of pure Al and Cf/Al composites
Fig.7 Cross-sectional image of Cf/Al composite (a) and EDS mapping of Cu on the surface of Cf/Al composite (b)
Fig.8 Tensile engineering stress-strain curves for pure Al and Cf/Al composites
Fig.9 Low (a) and high (b) magnified images of fracture surface of Cf/Al composites
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