1989 Volume 29 Issue 7 Pages 568-575
Various dilute binary copper alloys were coated onto the surface of carbon filbers. The wetting behavior of these alloys was examined by scanning electron microscope after heating the coated fibers at 1403 K. Tensile strength of the coated fibers was measured prior to and after the heat treatment. The measured results of the tensile strength were then analyzed by Weibull distribution theory. Alloying additions of Mo, Cr, V, Fe, and Co at one atomic fraction were found to be effective on the improvement of the wettability of copper to carbon fibers. Wetting mechanism was then discussed to conclude that such transition metals can be expected to cause wetting: those forming miscibility gaps in liquid state and having rather small solid solubility in copper in the binary system, and those being able to cause interface reactions. Interface reactions can be controlled by the rather small alloying additions so that the least degradation in the strength of carbon fibers could be resulted.
