Fabrication and Mechanical Characteristics of Multi-Laminated Aluminum Matrix Composites Reinforced by Continuous Basalt Fibers

Continuous basalt fiber (CBF) is a new type of performance outstanding inorganic nonmetallic material. In comparison with carbon fibers, basalt fibers exhibit greater failure strain as well as better impact and fire resistance with less poisonous fumes and 50% cost reduction. It is also known that basalt fibers display higher mechanical properties, better chemical stability and superior thermal and electrical insulation as compared with glass fibers. Basalt fiber has been widely used as a reinforcing composite material for construction industry and for preparation of polymer matrix composites. As high-performance low-cost reinforcements, basalt fibers should have a great potential for strengthening metal matrix composites (MMCs) and reducing their preparation cost. However, so far, few reports focused on the investigation on metal matrix composites reinforced by continuous basalt fibers, especially for lack of feasible fabrication technologies. Thus, in the present work, two-dimensional continuous basalt fiber cloth and Al12Si alloys foils were selected as raw materials and alternately stacked to obtain a sandwiched structure. Subsequently, vacuum pressure infiltration was utilized to fabricate aluminum matrix composites reinforced by continuous basalt fibers (CBF/Al) with volume fraction of 65% successfully. Influence of infiltration parameters on microstructure evolution of resulting aluminum matrix composites was investigated and formation mechanism of multi-layered structure of CBF/Al composite was clarified. Moreover, mechanical properties of the multi-layered CBF/Al composite were evaluated. The results showed that when the infiltration parameters were 660., 10 MPa and 10 min, fully dense CBF/Al composite could be achieved and the novel composite displayed a unique multi-layered structure, namely continuous basalt fibers in forms of cruciform crossing distributed within aluminum alloys matrix. It is noteworthy that no obvious chemical reaction happened between continuous basalt fibers and Al-12Si alloys, and sound metallurgical bonding interface between them was obtained due to the interdiffusion of Al and Si elements. Unfortunately, mechanical properties of multi-layered CBF/Al composite did not reach a desired level, which was attributed to (i) decreasing of effective load-carrying capacity due to the imperfect distribution manner of continuous basalt fibers and (ii) deteriorating of intrinsic mechanical properties at high temperature.