Infiltration of Saffil alumina fiber with AlCu and AlSi alloys

Journal Article · Fri Jun 18 00:00:00 EDT 1999 · Scripta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-6462(99)00141-4· OSTI ID:6433498

Garbellini, O; Morando, C; Biloni, H; Palacio, H ^[1]

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1. Comision de Investigaciones Cientificas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Tandil (Argentina). Inst. de Fisica de Materiales

Currently there is a considerable scientific and technological interest in the composite materials, which a strong ceramic reinforcement is incorporated into a metal matrix (MMC) to tailor its properties for specific applications. Among the various techniques for fabricating MMC, the liquid metal infiltration process by means of a pressurized gas is an attractive fabrication route for near net shaped metal matrix composite and has been successfully used to fabricate Al, Mg and more recently, Ni and Ni aluminide matrix composites, which can be reinforced by SiC or Al[sub 2]O[sub 3] particles, whiskers, or short fibers. This paper describes the experimental technique used and presents an experimental investigation of the effects of the process parameters employed, such as the preform and melt temperatures, the volume fraction of fibers in the preform and the applied pressure upon the infiltration length of a chopped preform during a unidirectional infiltration aided by gas pressure casting. The experiments of the present work were conducted to provide kinetic data with a view to optimizing the selection of the process initial conditions for infiltration which have an effect on the infiltration length of the molten matrix alloy into a preform and it is a first step in investigating the correlation between the infiltration length (fluidity) of AlCuSi matrix alloys and the microstructure of the composites fabricated by pressure casting. For this purpose, this paper focuses on AlCu and AlSi matrix alloys reinforced by short-fibers [delta]-alumina SAFFIL. The experiments reported here were performed with the fibers initially at a temperature significantly below the metal melting point. This is the case of practical interest for the fabrication of many fiber-reinforced metal components.

• OSTI ID: 6433498
• Journal Information: Scripta Materialia, Vol. 41:2; ISSN 1359-6462
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
CASTING
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
COPPER ALLOYS
FIBERS
IMPREGNATION
LIQUID METALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
SILICON ALLOYS
ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
ELEMENTS
FABRICATION
FLUIDS
LIQUIDS
MATERIALS
METALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
360602* - Other Materials- Structure & Phase Studies
360601 - Other Materials- Preparation & Manufacture