Characterisation of liquid metal infiltration of a chopped fibre preform aided by external pressure—III. Model validation and quantification

• Published in: Acta materialia 1996-10, Vol.44 (10), p.4233-4240
• Main Authors: Long, S., Zhang, Z., Flower, H.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Dispersion-, fiber-, and platelet-reinforced metal-based composites; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Materials synthesis; materials processing; Physics
• ISSN: 1359-6454; 1873-2453
• DOI: 10.1016/S1359-6454(96)00061-4

In the present work experimental infiltration of Saffil chopped fibre preforms has been conducted to validate and quantify the theoretical model for squeeze pressurised liquid metal infiltration of chopped fibre preforms developed by the present authors. The validation experiment shows that the established model is capable of predicting the hydrodynamic features of the infiltration processing, but cannot be used directly to instruct processing modification and optimisation due to the inclusion of unconventional geometrical parameters of the preforms during its establishment and the need for physicochemical properties of the melt-fibre system that are not generally available. To endow the model with quantitative predictability, empirical infiltration of Saffil chopped fibre preforms of variable fibre volume fractions, prepared using identical chopped fibres and preforming process, have been conducted and the uncertainties in the model have been determined. The model shows quantitative consistence with the experimental findings.