Abstract
Carbon fiber / metal matrix composites were fabricated by powder metallurgy process to achieve high thermal conductivity. The pitch based carbon fibers were mixed with aluminum or copper powders by 40 vol.%. The mixtures were consolidated by pulse current sintering. The resultant sintered bodies were subjected to swaging to orient the carbon fibers in the composites. Hellman's orientation coefficients of the composites with swaging process were estimated to be 0.9 for both Al and Cu matrices composites. This value means almost complete parallel orientation of the fibers. The thermal conductivity of the Al or Cu matrix composites was improved with the fiber orientations. The conductivities of Al and Cu composites were 217 and 393 W/ (m・K), respectively.
