INFLUENCE OF ALLOYING ON THE SOLUBILITY OF CARBON-FIBERS IN ALUMINUM-BASED COMPOSITES - NONEMPIRICAL APPROACH

A first-principle procedure is applied for a priori estimation of the efficiency of different additives to prevent fiber degradation in meta l-matrix composites. The procedure is based on the pseudopotential cal culations of excess energies of interstitial solid solutions, while th e parameters of model pseudopotentials are obtained from band structur e calculations, executed by the linear muffin-tin orbitals method. The aluminium-matrix/carbon-fiber composite is considered as an example w ith Fe, Zn, Mg, and Si additives to the matrix. The limits of solubili ty of carbon in aluminium with and without additives are evaluated. Th e calculation was checked experimentally for the system C/(Al, Si). Th e results confirm the expectations of the calculation.