Numerical simulation of the densification processing of titanium-matrix coated fiber composites

The densification behavior of Ti–6Al–4V composites reinforced by SiC fibers under vacuum hot pressing (VHP) is studied by using finite element method (FEM). The effect of fiber packing geometry, fiber volume fraction and consolidation parameters (temperature and time) on densification behavior are analyzed emphatically during the consolidation process. The results indicate, compared with the square fiber array, the hexagonal fiber array is of great of benefit to the matrix flow into void and can remarkably decrease the matrix stress during densification. For both square and hexagonal fiber array, fiber volume fraction has a significant effect on the densification. The high fiber volume fraction would cause low consolidation rate. The optimal temperature and time parameters of Ti–6Al–4V matrix-coated fibers composites for vacuum hot pressing must exceed 750 °C and 0.2 h, respectively.