Synergetic Effect of Discontinuous Carbon Fibers and Graphite Flakes on Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Matrix Composites Fabricated by Solid-Liquid Phase Sintering
Abstract
Aluminum (Al) matrix composite materials reinforced with graphite flakes (GF) and pitch-based carbon fibers (CF) were fabricated by solid-liquid phase sintering with a small amount of Aluminum-Silicon eutectic alloy (Al-12 wt%Si). The amount of Al-Si is optimized for a carbon content of 50 vol% in order to achieve, in the plane of GF reinforcement, a higher thermal conductivity (TC) and a lower coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) compared to identical composite material fabricated by conventional powder metallurgy route. Al/(GF + CF) composite materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray microscopy and X-ray tomography in order to highlight the distribution of the Al-Si liquid phase and the formation of a carbon network in the aluminum matrix. A small amount of CF allows to control the through-plane CTE without affecting significantly the in-plane TC of the Al-C composites. The (GF + CF) mixture and the solid-liquid phase sintering allow to achieve a TC of 410 W/m K (in-plane direction) and a CTE of 2.4 × 10-6/K (trough-plane direction), which is, for example, applicable for lightweight heat sink material.
- Publication:
-
Metals and Materials International
- Pub Date:
- July 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1007/s12540-019-00324-0
- Bibcode:
- 2019MMI....26..155C
- Keywords:
-
- Metal-matrix composites (MMCs);
- Discontinuous reinforcement;
- Powder processing;
- Thermal properties