 | 2008 |
Abstract:
Extruded profiles made of aluminum are essential components in lightweight space frame constructions, in modern automotive and aerospace applications. The reinforcement of such aluminum profiles with high strength materials, which can be realized for instance through composite extrusion, offers a high potential in terms of weight reduction and improvement of mechanical and functional properties. This work gives an approach to embed non metallic composite wires reinforced with ceramic fibers in composite extruded profiles of an AA 6060 matrix. It is shown that the composite wires with Nextel 440 fibers are not appropriate for the composite extrusion process and that the mechanical properties do not show any improvement in comparison to the non reinforced matrix material. Further on appendages to improve the composite extrusion process through higher strength composite wires with higher fiber fraction to achieve the focused advantages are presented.