Fabrication of carbon fibers reinforced Al-matrix composites in pulsed magnetic field

Woven carbon fibers reinforced Al-matrix composites were successfully prepared through a liquid metallurgy process in pulsed magnet field (PMF). Various wetting conditions and PMF application methods were respectively adopted to reveal the infiltration mechanism, based on which a model and hypothesis of the electromagnetic infiltration were developed. There was an exact match between the metallization depth in electroless plating process and the infiltrating depth in spontaneous infiltrating process, and an obvious improvement in the infiltration result was obtained with the introduction of PMF. The finite-element simulation result indicated that the molten matrix in PMF could offer periodic squeeze and impact effects on the fibers. With the application of PMF, the bending strength of the obtained composite improved from 112 to 203 MPa. Furthermore, the electromagnetic infiltration morphology in PMF possessed the gradient and synchronization characteristics, which was different from the spontaneous infiltration morphology with a step-by-step characteristic.