Poor interfacial structure and severe agglomerations of carbon fber (CF) are signifcant problems that face carbon fber
reinforced aluminium (CF/Al) composites. Thus, CF was surface modifed with nano copper particles (Cu) to overcome
these problems. Two groups of CF/Al composites (uncoated and coated) at diferent weight percentages of reinforcement
(0, 5, 10, 15, and 20) were fabricated using the planetary ball milling method and then uniaxially hot coined at 550 ℃ under
700 MPa. The results showed that CF refned the crystallite size of the Al matrix, and no Al4C3 or Al2Cu were detected in
XRD patterns. The density and thermal expansion of composites reduced with increasing CF percentage in all samples.
The electrical and thermal conductivities are improved up to 10 wt% of uncoated reinforcement and 15 wt% of coated one.
The mechanical test results revealed that by increasing CF, the compressive strength of composites decreased while the
wear properties improved for both groups. Cu deposition on CF improved the bonding between reinforcement and matrix,
producing composites with better interfacial bonding, fewer agglomerations and porosity, and higher values of the properties of the composites |
