The Effect of Reinforcement Preheating Temperatures on Tribological Behavior of Advanced Quranic Metal-Matrix Composites (QMMC)

The growing applications of iron/copper bimetallic composites in various industries are increasing. The relationship between the properties of these materials and manufacturing parameters should be well understood. This paper represents an experimental study to evaluate the effect of reinforcement (steel rod) preheating temperature on the mechanical properties (bond strength, microhardness, and wear resistance) of copper matrix composites (QMMC). In preparing the QMMC samples, the melted copper was poured on a steel rod that had been preheated to various temperatures, namely, room temperature, 600 °C, 800 °C, and 1200 °C. Properties of the QMMC (interface microstructure, interfacial bonding strength, microhardness, and wear) were investigated. The experimental results revealed that the best bond between the copper matrix and steel rod formed only in the composites prepared by preheating the steel rods with temperatures lower than the recrystallization temperature of steel (723 °C). This is because the oxide layer and shrinkage voids (due to the difference in shrinkage between the two metals) at the interface hinder atom diffusion and bond formation at higher temperatures. The microhardness test showed that preheating steel rod to 600 °C gives the highest value among all the samples. Furthermore, the QMMC’s wear behavior confirmed that the optimization of preheating temperature is 600 °C.

Study on factors of interface properties of axial braided C/C composite materials

In order to study the influencing factors of the tensile properties of axial braided C/C composites, the interfacial shear strength of the fiber rod and matrix was studied and ejecting tests of the fiber rod were carried out. The ejecting test specimens were formed with different thicknesses to obtain the changing rule of the interface shear strength with the thickness of the sample, and the testing method for the interface shear strength of the axial braided C/C composite material. The results show that the recommended thickness of the ejecting test specimens for the interface shear strength of is four times the diameter of the fiber rod. The interface shear strength distribution law of two different batches of materials was obtained through the interface ejecting test. The mesoscopic structure characteristics and pore statistical distribution law of the hole surface after ejecting were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the mechanism of the difference of the interface shear strength was obtained. The tensile properties of two different batches of materials were obtained by tensile tests. The results show that the tensile properties of the two batches of materials differ greatly. The analysis suggests that the reason for this difference is the differences in interfacial bonding strength between the fiber rod and matrix. The higher the interface shear strength, the better the tensile property of the material will be.