Electrical, Thermal, and Mechanical Characterization of Hot Coined Carbon Fiber Reinforced Pure Aluminium Composites

Abstract Poor interfacial structure and severe agglomerations of carbon fiber (CF) are significant problems that face carbon fiber reinforced aluminium (CF/Al) composites. Thus, CF was surface modified with nano copper particles (Cu) to overcome these problems. Two groups of CF/Al composites (uncoated and coated) at different 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 refined the crystallite size of the Al matrix, and no $${\mathrm{Al}}_{4}{\mathrm{C}}_{3}$$ Al 4 C 3 or $${\mathrm{Al}}_{2}\mathrm{Cu}$$ Al 2 Cu 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. Graphic Abstract Preparation and characterization of carbon fiber reinforced aluminium composites by hot coining technique