Correlation between manufacturing conditions and properties of carbon fibre reinforced Mg

Continuous carbon fibre preforms (M40), with an average fibre content of 66 vol.-%, were infiltrated with liquid Mg by gas pressure at various tempera tures and pressures in order to determine a relationship between manufactur ing conditions and the mechanical properties of the material. A saturation curve describes the infiltration behaviour of liquid Mg into the preforms a nd the relationship between infiltration pressure, pore volume, and mechani cal properties. The maximum bending strength of the composites exceeds 1400 MPa and is insensitive to melt temperature between 680 and 720 degrees C, The density of the Mg composite is 1.77 Mg m(-3), 20% lighter than the Al-C composites produced and tested by the authors in an earlier investigation, but yields the same mechanical properties in bending tests at room tempera ture. MST/4606 (C) 2000 IoM Communications Ltd.