Production of Aluminum-Graphite Composite by Spark Plasma Sintering

An aluminum-graphite composite was obtained by spark plasma sintering. The graphite particle size, compaction temperature, and soaking time were shown to influence the aluminum carbide formation process. It is demonstrated that the use of larger graphite plates decreases Al4C3 formation by almost a factor of two. The influence of the graphite content on the density, CLTE, and thermal conductivity of the composite was studied. It was found that for graphite weight content above 70% the thermophysical properties of compacts degrade significantly because large numbers of pores are formed.