Evaluation of Carbon Fiber distribution in Unidirectional CF/Al Composites by Two-Dimensional Spatial Distribution Method

Low pressure casting process for unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced aluminum (UD-CF/Al) composites which is an infiltration route of molten Al into porous UD-CF preform has been a cost-effective way to obtain metal matrix composites (MMCs) but, easy to cause non-uniform fiber distribution as CF clustering. Such clustered CFs have been a problem to decrease the density and thermal conductivity (TC) of composites, due to the existence of pores in the clustered area. To obtain high thermal performance composites for heat-sink application, the relationship between fiber distribution and porosity has to be clearly investigated. In this study, the CF distribution was evaluated with quantification approach by using two-dimensional spatial distribution method as local number 2-dimension (LN2D) analysis. Note that the CFs distribution in composites sensitively changed by sizes of Cu bridging particles between the CFs added in the UD-CF preform fabrication stage, and influenced on only $LN2D_{var}$ values.