Effect of Fiber Preheating Temperature on Mechanical Properties of Continuous Al2O3f/Al Composites

The composite materials of continuous Al2O3f/ZL210A alloy with 40% of Nextel610-Al2O3 fiber were fabricated via vacuum-pressure infiltration process, while the fiber was preheated at temperatures of 500, 530, 560 and 600℃, respectively before pressure-infiltration. The effect of fiber preheating temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the composites of continuous Al2O3f/ZL210A alloy was investigated. The results show that the density of composites increases with the increase of fiber preheating temperature; Among others, the composite of continuous Al2O3f/ZL210A made out of the fiber Al2O3f preheated at 600℃ presents the highest density of 99.2%; The tensile strength of Al2O3 fibers extracted from the prepared composites depends significantly on their preheating temperature, namely the higher preheating temperature may results in the lower tensile strength, as an example, the extracted Al2O3 fiber, which was subjected to pre-heat treatment at 600 C, presents a rough surface morphology with tensile strength of only 1150 MPa; The fiber preheating temperature has a significant effect on the tensile strength of continuous Al2O3f/Al composites. Indeed, the composites fabricated with Al2O3 fibers, which were preheated at 500, 530, 560 and 600℃ respectively, possess corresponding tensile strength of 298, 465, 498 and 452 MPa. The existed defects and damages on fibers, as well as the interfacial reaction between fibers and the matrix may be the main factors affecting the strength of the composites of continuous Al2O3f/ZL210A alloy. © All right reserved.