Laminate Squeeze Casting and Equibiaxial Bend Behavior of Carbon Fiber Fabric Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites

Abstract

The 2D bend behavior of composites fabricated by the new laminate squeeze casting technique is studied. Particular focus is on effects of the initial alternating solid‐state laminate configuration of aluminum 6061 sheets and carbon fiber fabric. Equibiaxial pin‐on‐ring bend tests are performed. It is shown that hydrostatic pressures around 40 MPa are required, which is at the higher end of the range reported for conventional squeeze casting. This is primarily due to the oxide scale on the aluminum layers that can hinder infiltration and weaken the fiber–matrix interface. However, above the threshold squeeze pressure, flexural modulus, yield strength, and strain hardening modulus continuously increase by up to 11.65%, 90.12%, and 248.28%, respectively. The strong strain hardening behavior suggests initial plastic deformation as pre‐condition for full load transfer to the fibers, indicating that the composites are most efficient when pre‐deformed following casting. Moreover, the ultimate flexural strength improves by up to 322.23% at 3.74 vol% with a maximum value of 1050.95 MPa. The major property improvements are primarily due to the possibility offered by the laminate technique to selectively place the reinforcement at critical sections, in this case, close to the composite surfaces with the highest bend stresses.