Preparation and characterization of C_f/Cu composite based on Cu-plating process of short carbon fibres

To prepare a uniformly dispersed short carbon fibre (C_f)/Cu composite in Cu matrix which contained a large volume fraction of C_f, by an electro-chemical method in the process of Cu plating on the surface of C_f, a parallel Cu fosil was used as cathode instead of long carbon fibre bundle.By which, more homogeneous and smooth Cu-plating short C_f were obtained. Based on that, the 46vol% C_f/Cu composite (sample 1)was prepared directly by spark plasma sintering (SPS) with those C_f/Cu composite filament prepared at 2 V, 30 min. Then non-coated C_f mixed with Cu powder were used to prepare another C_f/Cu composite(sample 2).The phase composition, surface and fracture morphology of C_f/Cu composite filament and the C_f/Cu composites were researched through XRD and SEM. After that, there was a comparison with these samples on the mechanical properties.Results show that the Cu coating creates discontinuous fractures under load, which causes fluctuations in the tensile load-displacement curve of C_f/Cu composite filament. Besides, the uniformity and mechanical properties of sample 1 are higher than sample 2. The tensile strengths of C_f/Cu composites made by two different ways are lower than Cu, but the yield strengths are higher.