Metal-Matrix Composites
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ASM Handbook, Volume 2: Properties and Selection: Nonferrous Alloys and Special-Purpose Materials Copyright © 1990 ASM International® ASM Handbook Committee, p 903-912 All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1361/asmhba0001101 www.asminternational.org Metal-Matrix Composites John V. Foltz, Metallic Materials Branch, Naval Surface Warfare Center, White Oak Laboratory Charles M. Blackmon, Applied Materials Technology Branch, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Laboratory METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES elastic modulus and strength of unidirec- Primary processing is the operation by (MMCs) are a class of materials with poten- tionally reinforced composites, are suffi- which the composite is synthesized from its tial for a wide variety of structural and ciently high in some MMCs to permit use of raw materials. It involves introducing the thermal management applications. Metal- the unidirectional lay-up in engineering reinforcement into the matrix in the appro- matrix composites are capable of providing structures. priate amount and location, and achieving higher-temperature operating limits than This article will give an overview of the proper bonding of the constituents. Second- their base metal counterparts, and they can current status of MMCs, including informa- ary processing consists of all the additional be tailored to give improved strength, stiff- tion on physical and mechanical properties, steps needed to make the primary compos- ness, thermal conductivity, abrasion resis- processing methods, distinctive features, ite into a finished hardware component. tance, creep resistance, or dimensional sta- and the various types of continuously and Many reinforcement and matrix materials bility. Unlike resin-matrix composites, they discontinuously reinforced MMCs. More are not inherently compatible, and such are nonflammable, do not outgas in a vacu- information on the processing and proper- materials cannot be processed into a com- um, and suffer minimal attack by organic ties of MMCs is available in the Section posite without tailoring the properties of an fluids such as fuels and solvents. "Metal, Carbon/Graphite, and Ceramic Ma- interface between them. In some compos- The principle of incorporating a high- trix Composites" in Composites, Volume 1 ites the coupling between the reinforcing performance second phase into a conven- of the Engineered Materials Handbook agent and the metal is poor and must be tional engineering material to produce a published by ASM INTERNATIONAL. enhanced. For MMCs made from reactive combination with features not obtainable constituents, the challenge is to avoid ex- from the individual constituents is well Property Prediction cessive chemical activity at the interface, known. In a MMC, the continuous, or ma- which would degrade the properties of the trix, phase is a monolithic alloy, and the Property predictions of MMCs can be material. These problems are usually re- reinforcement consists of high-performance obtained from mathematical models, which solved either by applying a surface treat- carbon, metallic, or ceramic additions. Re- require as input a knowledge of the proper- ment or coating to the reinforcement or by inforced intermetallic compounds such as ties and geometry of the constituents. For modifying the composition of the matrix the aluminides of titanium, nickel, and iron metals reinforced by straight, parallel con- alloy. are also discussed in this article (for more tinuous fibers, three properties that are fre- Solidification processing (Ref 4, 5), solid- information on intermetallic compounds, quently of interest are the elastic modulus, state bonding, and matrix deposition tech- see the article "Ordered Intermetallics" in the coefficient of thermal expansion, and niques have been used to fabricate MMCs. this Volume). the thermal conductivity in the fiber direc- Solidification processing offers a near-net- Reinforcements, characterized as either tion. Reasonable values can be obtained shape manufacturing capability, which is continuous or discontinuous, may consti- from rule-of-mixture expressions for economically attractive. Developers have tute from 10 to 60 vol% of the composite. Young's modulus (Ref 1): explored various liquid metal techniques Continuous fiber or filament reinforce- Ec = Ef vf +Em Vm (Eq 1) that use multifilament yarns, chopped fi- ments include graphite (Gr), silicon car- coefficient of thermal expansion (Ref 2): bers, or particulates as the reinforcement. bide (SIC), boron, aluminum oxide A castable ceramic/aluminum MMC is now (A1203), and refractory metals. Discontin- otfvfEf + ot m v mE m commercially available (Ref 6); cast com- a¢ = (Eq 2) uous reinforcements consist mainly of SiC Ef vf + Em v m ponents of this composite are shown in in whisker (w) form, particulate (p) types Fig. 2. Solid-state methods use lower fab- of SiC, A1203, or titanium diboride (TiB2), and thermal conductivity (Ref 3): rication temperatures with potentially bet- and short or chopped fibers of A1203 or kc = kfvf + kmvm (Eq3) ter control of the interface thermodynam- graphite. Figure 1 shows cross sections of where v is volume fraction, and E, et, and k ics and kinetics. The two principal typical continuous and discontinuous rein- are the modulus, coefficient of thermal ex- categories of solid-state fabrication are dif- forcement MMCs. pansion, and thermal conductivity in the fusion bonding of materials in thin sheet The salient characteristics of metals as fiber direction, respectively. The subscripts form (Ref 7) and powder metallurgy tech- matrices are manifested in a variety of c, f, and m refer to composite, fiber, and niques (Ref 8). Matrix deposition pro- ways; in particular, a metal matrix imparts a matrix, respectively. cesses, in which the matrix is deposited on metallic nature to the composite in terms of the fiber, include electrochemical plating, thermal and electrical conductivity, manu- Processing Methods plasma spraying, and physical vapor de- facturing operations, and interaction with position (Ref 7). A new method, metal the environment. Matrix-dominated me- Processing methods for MMCs are divid- spray deposition, is currently being inves- chanical properties, such as the transverse ed into primary and secondary categories. tigated (Ref 9). After deposition process- 904 / Special-Purpose Materials (a) 100 ~m 100 I~m 10 iLm (d) ~ (el (0 I I 10 i~m Cross sections of typical fiber-reinforced MMCs. (a) Continuous-fiber-reinforced boron/aluminum composite. Shown here are 142 i~m diam boron filaments Fig. 1 coated with BaC in a 6061 aluminum alloy matrix. (b) Discontinuous graphite/aluminum composite. Cross section shows 10 i~m diam chopped graphite fibers (40 vol%) in a 2014 aluminum alloy matrix. (c) A 6061 aluminum alloy matrix reinforced with 40 vol% SiC particles. (d) Whisker-reinforced (20 vol% SiC) aluminum MMC. (e) and (f) MMCs manufactured using the PRIMEXTM pressureless metal infiltration process. (e) An AI203-reinforced (60 vol%) aluminum MMC. (f) A highly reinforced (81 vol%) MMC consisting of SiC particles in an aluminum alloy matrix. The black specks in the matrix are particles of an inorganic preform binder and do not indicate porosity. (a) and (b) Courtesy of DWA Composite Specialties, Inc. (c) and (d) Courtesy of Advanced Composite Materials Corporation. (e) and (f) Courtesy of Lanxide Corporation ing, a secondary consolidation step such as Aluminum-Matrix Composites Continuous Fiber Aluminum MMC. diffusion bonding often is needed to pro- Boron/aluminum is a technologically ma- duce a component. Most of the commercial work on MMCs ture continuous fiber MMC (Fig. la). Ap- Which secondary processes are appropri- has focused on aluminum as the matrix metal. plications for this composite include tubular ate for a given MMC depends largely on The combination of light weight, environmen- truss members in the midfuselage structure whether the reinforcement is continuous or tal resistance, and useful mechanical proper- of the Space Shuttle orbiter and cold plates discontinuous. Discontinuously reinforced ties has made aluminum alloys very popular; in electronic microchip carrier multilayer MMCs are amenable to many common met- these properties also make aluminum well boards. Fabrication processes for B/A1 al forming operations, including extrusion, suited for use as a matrix metal. The melting composites are based on hot-press diffusion forging, and rolling. Because a high percent- point of aluminum is high enough to satisfy bonding or plasma spraying methods (Ref age of the materials used to reinforce dis- many application requirements, yet low 13). Selected properties of a B/A1 composite continuous MMCs are hard oxides or car- enough to render composite processing rea- are given in Table 1. bides, machining can be difficult, and sonably convenient. Also, aluminum can ac- Continuous SiC fibers (SiC¢) are now methods such as diamond sawing, electrical commodate a variety of reinforcing agents, commercially available; these fibers are discharge machining (Ref 10), and abrasive including continuous boron, AI203, SiC, and candidate replacements for boron fibers be- waterjet cutting (Ref 11) are sometimes uti- graphite fibers, and various particles, short cause they have similar properties and offer lized (see Machining, Volume 16 of the 9th fibers, and whiskers (Ref 12). The microstruc- a potential cost advantage. One such SiC Edition of Metals Handbook for more infor- tures of various aluminum matrix MMCs are fiber is SCS, which can be manufactured mation about these machining