Tensile strength and anisotropy of repeated hot-rolled carbon nanotube/aluminum matrix composites

Abstract

This study aims to strengthen carbon nanotube (CNT)/Al composites, which were fabricated by a combination of spark plasma sintering (SPS) and repeated hot rolling techniques. Dry ball milling was conducted to uniformly disperse CNT in Al powders. The microstructures of the CNT/Al composites including dispersibility of CNT were observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Ball milling treatments promoted to reduce the number of CNT aggregations and increase C concentrations in the CNT aggregations in the composites. Anisotropic tensile behavior was also investigated, which demonstrated that the post-SPS repeated hot rolling can highly enhance the tensile strength as well as deformability of the composites.