Squeeze infiltration processing of nickel coated carbon fiber reinforced Al-2014 composite

Ni-coated fibers are widely used to synthesize carbon fiber reinforces Al based composites. It is observed that during the pressure infiltration process, significant amount of damage takes place in the nickel (Ni) coating due to a difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of fibers and Ni-coating. A modified squeeze infiltration set up is studied in the present work to minimize the damage to the Ni-coating during the infiltration process. This process resulted in significant improvement in retention of the Ni-coating compared to the unmodified process. The solidification pattern in the matrix was established by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopic analysis, which suggests that solidification of primary α-Al started in the interfiber region. The Vickers hardness values for the unreinforced portion of the sample, the matrix regions within the fiber tows and at the fiber matrix interface were found to be 55, 72 and 87, respectively.