Mechanical properties and metallography of aluminum matrix composites reinforced by the Cu- or Ni-plating carbon multifi
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Shuichiro Watanabe NIKKEI Techno-Research Co. Ltd., 1-34-1 Kambara, Kambara-cho, Ihara-gun, Shizuoka 421-32, Japan (Received 12 March 1993; accepted 5 April 1993)
The feasibility study of electroless plating as carbon fiber modification for aluminum matrix composites was carried out. The comparison of Cu plating and Ni plating of carbon fiber by the electroless method was investigated. The Cu- or Ni-coated carbon fiber reinforced aluminum was fabricated with a centrifugal pressure infiltration method. The mechanical property was metallographically discussed. Electroless plating is able to improve the throwing power of the precipitant into the multifllament and uniformly coat Cu or Ni onto the carbon fiber. The technique using centrifugal casting seems to be an innovative method for fabrication of composite materials. The eutectic reaction between aluminum and Cu or Ni on the fiber appears to improve the affinity of the carbon fiber and aluminum. The Cu-plated carbon fiber reinforced aluminum is two times higher in bending strength than Ni-plated carbon fiber reinforced aluminum.
I. INTRODUCTION Carbon fiber reinforced aluminum (CFRA1) is a very promising product due to the carbon fiber's high specific strength and the high specific rigidity and/or aluminum's own properties. Carbon fiber, however, has a poor wetting property with aluminum.1 It reacts with aluminum at temperatures above 773 K, producing aluminum carbide (AI4C3), which causes a deterioration of the composite.2 A modification of the carbon fiber surface is necessary to increase the wetting property and prevent the reaction between the carbon fiber and aluminum. The studies of fiber coatings for fiber-reinforced composites are important in developing high-performance composites. There were many reports concerning the fiber coatings in the past. There, however, were really few studies in which the mechanical strength was estimated with Cu or Ni coating by electroless plating. Lamotte et al.3 examined the tensile strength of electroless Ni-coated fiber-reinforced composites. Sara4 studied electroplated Cu-coated fiber-reinforced composites, but both did not estimate the mechanical properties, just referred to their microstructure. Mimura et al. studied the mechanical strength of electroless Cu-coated fiber-reinforced composites fabricated by plasma spray and hot pressing.5 This study metallurgically clarified the relationship of the mechanical strength and its interfacial structure of Cu-coated carbon fiber reinforced aluminum or Nicoated carbon fiber reinforced aluminum by centrifugal infiltration. 2492 http://journals.cambridge.org
J. Mater. Res., Vol. 8, No. 10, Oct 1993 Downloaded: 02 Apr 2015
Wide varieties of coatings have been studied: AI2O3 coating by metal-organic CVD, SiC coating from organic solution, and colloidal solutions for surface modification of reinforced fiber. All of these seem to have been interesting6; however, the results of Cu or Ni electroless plating is the focus in this paper. II. EXPERIMENTAL A. Preparation for CFRAI Nonsi
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