原位合成铝基复合材料(英文版)

Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1　The development history of metal matrix composites In today’s rapidly developing world of science and technology， the field of materials science is tremendously changing; new theoretical concepts， ideas， and technologies continue to emerge， and preparation of composites is a new trend. Composites are new materials obtained by optimizing the combination of two or more materials of completely different properties. These materials have passed through various stages of development from natural materials to artificial materials， from simply structured materials to complex structured and functional materials; each stage is gradually entering into a higher， more refined， and faster development phase， thus incorporating new high-tech ideas and rendering rapid development pace to aerospace， transportation， information， biology， and other industries[1]. Metal matrix composites (MMCs) are composite materials that use metals or alloys as the matrix and fibers， whiskers， particles， or a combination of these as reinforcements. Because composite materials receive the properties of metal or alloy matrix (plasticity， toughness) and ceramic reinforcements (high strength， high stiffness)， they have the advantages of higher strength and elastic modulus， good high-temperature performance， excellent wear resistance， etc.， thus having important applications and broad prospects in the fields of aerospace， automotive， electronics， packaging， and sports industries. Due to the alarming conditions of energy and environment for human survival and for further development of transportation， aerospace， electronics， information technology， national defense， military industry， and sports industries， the demand for lightweight and high-strength multifunctional MMCs is growing[2]. The USA and Japan are currently the world’s leading countries in the research and development of metal matrix composites. U. S. Department of Defense has recognized the metal matrix composite materials as the key technology and invested a lot of money， manpower， making it the world leader. The USA has been conducting research on metal matrix composites since the 1960s. It entered into the practical phase in the 1970s and began to widely use MMCs in the aerospace industry in the 1980s. For example， boron fiber-reinforced aluminum matrix composite materials were used for the cargo tank truss of the STS Columbia， launched in 1981. After that， the MMCs industry developed rapidly in the USA， and in 2000， the total production value of advanced MMCs in the USA had reached 20 billion US dollars. In Japan， the research and development of MMCs started later， and the investment in the research of MMCs only began in the early 1980s. However， the development rate was very fast，and it took only about 20 years for Japan to quickly occupy a very important position in the production and application research of metal matrix composites in the world. Japan successfully manufactured large-scale long fiber， whisker and other types of MMCs reinforcements， and only two years later， Japan’s Honda Motor Company first applied this technology to the cylinder block piston by utilizing AL2Ｏ3 short fibers as reinforcement in aluminum alloy composites. Japan achieved large-scale industrial production so that it quickly reached the forefront of MMCs in the world. At present， according to incomplete statistics， there are at least 40 companies in Japan active in research and development of MMCs. According to the latest business survey of the American Business Information Corporation， the total MMCs market in the world reached more than 10 000 tons in 2014. At present， there are hundreds of unique MMCs companies in the world that have exclusive technologies (such as DWA’s powder metallurgy)， or specialize in a certain material (such as Alcan’s aluminum-based MMCs)， or focus on a specific product type (such as CPS’s thermal packaging substrate). It is predicted that the global MMCs market will maintain an 8% annual growth rate. According to different application fields， the MMCs market can be subdivided into five categories:① land transportation，② electronics/thermal control，③ aerospace， ④ industry， and ⑤ consumer products. Among these， land transportation (including automobiles and rail vehicles) and high value-added heat dissipation components are still the dominant markets for MMCs， with consumption rates exceeding 60% and 30%， respectively. 1.2 In-situ reaction synthesis technology 1.2.1　Self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method The self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method was proposed by Soviet scientists Merzhanov et al.[6] while studying the combustion of Ti and C compact mixture. The principle is to mix the raw materials of reinforced phase with the metal powder， and a compact is formed. Preheating and ignition in a vacuum or inert gas cause an exothermic chemical reaction between the reaction