A study of the ultrasonic technique applied in fabrication of SiC fiber-reinforced aluminum composites

By comparing the ultrasonic cavitation in several kinds of transparent liquid mediums, we have investigated the cavitation effect in liquid. It is considered that the shock wave created by the cavitation in aluminum melt induces a high pressure and an elevated temperature field around the fibers, which can promote the wetting between fiber and aluminum and have aluminum melt infiltrate into the fibers. Moreover, the experiment result shows that the fiber resonance matching with the cavitation is also an important factor for SiC/Al composites preparation. There exists a damage of the ultrasonic vibration on SiC fiber, if the fiber is acted long enough.