Whisker Reinforced Composite Materials.

Abstract : The successful utilization of reinforcements in composites requires a high degree of alignment. A technique of electrophoretic deposition with alignment of whisker materials capable of large scale operation was investigated and several of the alignment conditions were optimized. A technique for comparison of the degrees of alignment obtained under various conditions was devised. Composite filaments containing high volume fractions of well aligned whiskers were produced. Preliminary results from composites made by the process show promising results. The systems include (a) secondary reinforcement of the boron-epoxy system and (b) copper-alumina whisker composites and (c) silicon carbide or alumina whisker reinforced epoxy composites.