METAL-, CERAMIC- AND CARBON-MATRIX COMPOSITES

METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES
Features
Properties
Typology and applications

CERAMIC-MATRIX COMPOSITES
Toughening of composites
Typology and applications

CARBON-CARBON COMPOSITES
Pyrolytic carbon
Properties
Applications
Oxidation protection
 METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES

Metal-matrix composites are developed to improve the mechanical properties of

metallic alloys. Main objectives are to increase specific properties, hardness and
mechanical behavior at high temperature.

In addition, materials with tailored properties (stiffness, electrical/thermal

conductivity, CTE) can be manufactured for specific applications (thermal
management, very low distortion components, etc. )

Particle and fiber-reinforced composites present very different features and

properties.

Particle-reinforced MMC are isotropic and most properties are controlled by the
matrix. Particle reinforcement modifies properties up to a certain extent. They can
processed and machined using techniques similar to those employed for
unreinforced metals. This lead to limited cost.

Fiber-reinforced MMC are anisotropic. Unidirectional fiber-reinforcement is

normally used. Properties in the fiber direction are controlled by the fibers and by the
matrix in the perpendicular direction. Processing routes are different from those
used in the metallic matrices, leading to higher cost.
 METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES

PARTICLE-REINFORCED

FIBER-REINFORCED

Al reinforced with 44% vol. % SiC particles

Ti-6Al-4V alloy reinforced with SiC fibers

 PROPERTIES

Specific stiffness and strength Controlled CTE

Addition of ceramic reinforcements leads to an important reduction in ductility

and fracture toughness.
 TYPOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS

Structural components with high specific stiffness, strength and fatigue

resistance for which these features are critical design parameters.

Bicycle frame

Drive shaft for cars (AlMg1SiCu + 20 vol.% Al2O3 particles)

F16 ventral fins

rolled 6092 Al +
17.5% SiC particles
 TYPOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS

Structural elements with minimum distortion: Tailored composites with

minimum CTE and maximum specific stiffness to limit shape changes due to
temperature.

Hubble space telescope antenna wave guide mast

6061 Al alloy reinforced with 42 vol. % C fibers (unidirectional)

Eıı = 342 GPa

CTEıı = -0.49 10-6 ºC-1
density = 2.5 g/cm3
 TYPOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS

Substrates for electronic packing applications: Electronic substrate materials

must conduct heat well and have a CTE close to that of semiconductors used in
electronic circuitry, in the range from roughly 3 ppm K−1 to 7 ppm K−1. This can be
achieved with Al/SiC composites produced via liquid infiltration.
20!
Diamond! metals!
18! ceramics!
diamond composites (Cu-, Al-, and Ag-matrix)!

16!

Thermal conductivity @ RT [W/cmK]!

0.2 mm!
14!

12!
cBN! area of interest!
10!

8!

6!
Ag!
Cu!
SiC!
4!
Al!
2! Al-SiC & Cu-Mo!

0!
Si! GaAs!
0! 5! 10! 15! 20! 25!

Coefficient of thermal expansion @ RT [ppm/K]!

A new generation of MMCs with Cu, Ag or Al matrix reinforced with diamond

particles will provide much higher conductivity and is envisaged for the near future.
 TYPOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS

Cables for power transmission lines: Al reinforced with Al2O3 fibers have
replaced steel cables for power transmission lines because of the lower density,
higher strength (1.5 GPa) and lower thermal expansion coefficient.

Al-Al2O3

They are manufactured by liquid

infiltration of an Al matrix into a Al2O3
fiber preform.
 TYPOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS
Wear/fatigue resistance applications at high temperature in automotive
engines (diesel pistons, connecting rods), brakes, etc. They are made of Al2O3
short-fiber or SiC or Al2O3 particles dispersed in Al alloys. They are manufactured
by powder metallurgy or liquid infiltration techniques.

A359 + 20% SiC disc car brake

Honda Prelude 2.0 l cast aluminum

cylinder block. The cylinder liner inset
is made up of MMC.

Cast MMC brake for a high speed train

Al 6061 + SiC connecting rod
 TYPOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS
Ultra-hard. wear resistant metals

Tool steels reinforced with 20-45% TiC particles

 CERAMIC-MATRIX COMPOSITES

Ceramic materials are the only choice for high temperature structural applications
(> 1100ºC). But their use is impaired by their inherent brittleness.
critical defect size a⇤

CMC were mainly developed to improve the toughness of ceramics.

 CERAMIC-MATRIX COMPOSITES

a 250 b
Ti alloys
200
Specific strength
[MPa/(Mg m–3)]

C-SiC
150
TiAl alloys
SiC-SiC
ed from arjournals.annualreviews.org

100 Ni base
alloys Oxide

50 Mo-Si-B
For personal use only.

Mg Al Refractory alloys
alloys alloys
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Temperature (K)
 TOUGHENING MECHANISMS in CMC

Two brittle materials lead to ... however, more brittle materials may lead to ...
another brittle material a damage tolerant material
ZrSiO4 + BN + C + SiC

ZrSiO4 + SiC
 TOUGHENING MECHANISMS in CMC
2836 Journal of the American Ceramic Society—Sun et al.
the lowest Y:Al ratio exhibited a steady-state fracture tough-
ness of ∼7.0 MPa!m1/2, while composition C with the highest
Y:Al ratio exhibited a high fracture toughness value of about
9–11 MPa!m1/2. The differences in the steady-state toughness
along different orientations were not significantly large be-
cause the texture was not strong, as shown in Section III(1).
In situ SEM observation of cracks interacting with the mi-
crostructures revealed that the interfacial debonding behavior
between the large elongated grains and the intergranular glass
varied with the sintering additives employed. As shown in Figs.
6(a) and (b), when the crack approached the reinforcing grains
at similar angles of incidence (" ∼ 60°), the large elongated
grain in sample A failed transgranularly while crack deflection
and interfacial debonding occurred in sample B. When the
crack approached the reinforcing grains at smaller angles of
incidence (Figs. 6(c) and (d)), interfacial debonding occurred in
both samples A and B. However, the debonding lengths were
longer in sample B than those in sample A. The critical
debonding angles ("c), beyond which no crack deflection could
occur at the interface, were estimated from in situ SEM obser-
Crack deflection at the interface + fiber
bridging lead to non-linear stress-strain behavior
and high toughness. Similar effects (although to
a minor extent) can be obtained by reinforcing
ceramic matrices with elongated whiskers.
Vol. 81, No. 11
vations. "c values were ∼60°, ∼70°, and ∼75° for compositions
A, B, and C, respectively. Apparently, the interface between
the large elongated grains and the surrounding glass was more
SiC+SiC(C)
readily to debond and had a lower interfacial debonding energy
in samples processed with higher Y2O3:Al2O3 ratios in the
sintering additives. With increasing "c, the amount of large
elongated grains involved in the toughening process, where the
crack intersects at angles smaller than "c, should be signifi-
cantly increased. This is consistent with in situ SEM observa-
tions that the overall extent of crack deflection and crack bridg-
ing which occurred during crack extension increased from
compositions A to C with increasing Y:Al ratios. According to
previous work on whisker-reinforced ceramic-matrix compos-
ites, increases in both the amount of reinforcement and the
extent of debonding length result in better fracture resistance.19
Unlike ‘‘conventional’’ self-reinforced silicon nitride with a
coarsened microstructure in which the fracture resistance was
improved at the expense of strength, the seeded silicon nitrides
investigated here all exhibited exceptionally high flexure
strength, as summarized in Table I. The achievement of both
Si3N4 + SiC whiskers
 TYPOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS

Cutting tools as well as molds, dies, extrusion cones: Al2O3-matrix or SiC/

Si3N4-matrices reinforced with SiC whiskers. Higher cutting speeds as a result of
the high melting point of alumina and the hardness, strength and toughness
increase provided by SiC whiskers.
 TYPOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS

Structural elements for high temperature applications: SiC-matrix

reinforced with C or SiC fibers. Other matrices (Al2O3) are occasionally used.
They are employed in heat exchangers, hot gas valves, exhaust nozzles,
combustor liners, turbine nozzle guide vanes, etc.
 CARBON-CARBON COMPOSITES

Carbon-Carbon composites are a set of composites made up of a pyrolitic carbon

matrix reinforced with C fibers. They take advantage of the unique properties of the
matrix, while C fiber reinforcement provides good mechanical properties (strength
and toughness)

PYROLYTIC CARBON

Pyrolytic carbon is similar to graphite, but with some covalent bonding between its
graphene sheets as a result of imperfections. It is produced by pyrolysis (heating a
hydrocarbon nearly to its decomposition temperature in an inert atmosphere).

Pyrolytic carbon usually has a single cleavage plane, similar to mica, because the
graphene sheets crystallize in a planar order, as opposed to graphite, which forms
microscopic randomly-oriented zones. Because of this, pyrolytic carbon is highly
anisotropic.

Pyrolytic C has very high thermal conductivity, along the cleavage plane, very low
CTE, is ablative and self-lubricant between the graphene sheets. It maintains its
properties up to very temperature (2800ºC) in absence of oxygen.
 PROPERTIES OF CCC

Very high melting point and strength retention (up to 3000ºC)

Ablative behavior, low friction coefficient
Very low CTE and excellent thermal shock resistance
High elastic modulus (up to 200 GPa) and thermal conductivity (≈ 100 W/m*K)
Low density (about 1.83 g/cm³);

CCC are the only option as structural materials for very high temperature
applications that require extraordinary dimensional stability, thermal shock resistance
 APPLICATIONS

Disk brakes of airplanes and trains because of their high wear resistance
due to ablative character, high-thermal conductivity, low friction coefficient and low
density

C/C brake assembly

Airbus A320
 APPLICATIONS

Disk brakes of formula 1 racing cars:

 APPLICATIONS

Structural elements for very high temperature applications: rocket nozzles,

thermal shields.
 OXIDATION PROTECTION

The main limitation of CCC is their

low oxidation resistance. Carbon reacts
with oxygen at 450ºC.

Protection strategies

Coatings: Ceramic coatings (commonly multi-layer) of carbides, nitrides

and oxides. Protection coatings may be deposited by Chemical Vapor
Deposition, Physical Vapor Deposition or Plasma spraying.

Impregnation of oxidation inhibitors: inorganic salts, borate and silicate

glasses, phosphates, boron oxides, polysiloxanes, halogen compounds.