3D entangled wire reinforced metallic composites

3D entangled stainless steel wire reinforced aluminum composites have been fabricated by squeezing casting. Monofilaments with a diameter of 100 μm are used to prepare the 3D wire preforms and their volume fraction in the composites varies from 17.7 to 35.4%. The interface between the reinforcements and the aluminum matrix shows perfect cohesion without any micro-pores or other defects. The introduction of 3D entangled wire structure increases the strength of A356 alloy from 164 to 318 MPa. Noticeably, the yield strength of the composites reinforced by the 3D structure with small volume fraction is reasonably low, which appears below the Voigt upper bound. But it increases significantly as the volume fraction of the reinforcements increases. For the composites with the entangled wire structure larger than 26.5 vol.%, the yield strength is beyond the upper bound. This phenomenon can be attributed to the structure-strengthening of the 3D entangled wire preforms.

► 3D entangled wire composites have been fabricated by squeezing casting.
► A uniform and controlled composite microstructure is obtained.
► Their properties are very sensitive to the entangled wire preforms.
► Their strength can reach beyond the Voigt upper bound.