Effect of reinforcement architecture on mechanical properties of a short fibre/magnesium RZ5 MMC manufactured by preform infiltration

Abstract Short fibre reinforced metal-matrix composites (MMCs) produced by the liquid metal preform infiltration route exhibit a planar (2D) random fibre “architecture”. Generally the mechanical properties of such MMCs are determined from specimens whose axes lie parallel to the planar arrays and the effect of the anisotropic fibre distribution on mechanical properties is rarely investigated. This paper describes mechanical properties measured in tension and compression of a Saffil fibre reinforced RZ5 (ZE41) magnesium alloy, both parallel (P) and normal (N) to the fibre arrays. It is shown that the mechanical properties are generally enhanced in the P orientation compared with the N orientation. However properties in the N orientation are still considerably better than those of the unreinforced alloy. There is a significant effect of deformation mode on the mechanical properties of the anisotropic effects observed and on the absolute strengths in tension and compression.