Casting of micro- to macroholes in Al components

Abstract

A new pore forming process for the casting of microarray holes in Al components was proposed. This pore forming process depended on both the poor wettability of C and Al, and high strength of extension of carbon fibre. In contrast to conventional pore forming methods, such as mechanical or special process, the proposed method did not require any additional sophisticated equipment and acquired super large aspect ratio by casting. Aiming at demonstrating the feasibility and making comparative superiority of the proposed pore forming method, pore forming principle and the regularities of aperture were studied. The results show molten aluminium pore formed around the carbon fibre bundle. The actual diameter of holes is almost 20 larger than that of the theoretical value, the average aspect ratio of holes reaches 290 and the average diameter of holes is ∼0·222 mm under the influence of loose quantity.