Abstract
Stainless steel fiber (SSF) reinforced aluminum composites were fabricated by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and subsequently elongating in its axial direction by rotary swaging treatment. The density and hardness were measured and microstructures of the specimens were observed with a scanning electron microscope and an optical microscope. The tensile test and fracture surface analysis were conducted. The hardness and the tensile strength of the composites increase significantly by only a small amount addition of SSFs (0.78vol%) in comparison with those of the non-reinforced aluminum material. The SSFs distributes homogeneously after HIP processing and prefer to align along the longitudinal direction in the aluminum matrix after rotary swaging treatment. The comparison of orientation coefficient shows that this treatment is effective to rearrange the orientation of fibers. The main fracture mode of the SSF/A1 MMCs is interfacial debonding between SSFs and the Al matrix.
