MaterialsScienceandEngineeringA367(2004)343–349ProcessingofTiNiSMAfiberreinforcedAZ31MgalloymatrixcompositebypulsedcurrenthotpressingK.Mizuuchia,∗,K.Inoueb,K.Hamadac,M.Sugiokaa,M.Itamia,M.Fukusumia,M.KawaharadaOsakaMunicipalTechnicalResearchInstitute,1-6-50,MorinnomiyaJoto-ku,Osaka536-8553,JapanbMaterialsScienceandEngineering,UniversityofWashington,Seattle,WA98195-2120,USAcDentalEngineering,SchoolofDentistry,TokushimaUniversity,Tokushima770-8504,JapandSumitomoCoalMoningCo.Ltd.,Tokyo105-8425,JapanReceived17March2003;receivedinrevisedform21August2003AbstractMagnesiumalloymatrixcompositereinforcedbycontinuousTiNishapememoryalloy(SMA)fiberwasfabricatedbypulsedcurrenthotpressing(PCHP)ofTiNiSMAfiberssandwichedwithapairofAZ31Mgalloyplates,anditsmicrostructureandmechanicalpropertieswereexamined.TheMgalloyplateswith20vol.%oftheTiNifiberswerereadilyhotpressedintoacompositeatthetemperatureof773Kforatotalprocessingtimeof0.6ks.Duringtheprocessing,thethicknessofthepreformcomposedofMgplatesandTiNifibersdecreaseddrasticallyatthetemperaturebetween400and650K,resultinginthebondingbetweenthefiberandthematrixplatesoccurred.AsareactionoccurredinsubstantiallyinthevicinityoftheboundarybetweenMgalloyplatesandTiNifiber,nohomogeneousinterfacialreactionlayerwasformed.Thetensileyieldstressesofthecompositedeformedintensionat373and423Kwerehigherbyabout68and87MPathanthatat293K,respectively.Atthetesttemperaturerange,boththeyieldstressandelongationofthecompositeincreasedwithincreasingtemperature.Attemperatureshigherthan373K,thespecificstrengthofthecompositewashigherthanthatofAZ31Mgalloy.©2003ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Smart;Metalmatrixcomposite;Shapememoryalloy;Magnesiumalloy;Pulsedcurrenthotpressing;Pulsedcurrentpressuresintering1.IntroductionHighperformanceandlightweightofmaterialsmaynotbefulfilledbymerelyimprovingthecharacteristicsofcon-ventionalmaterialsandimplythedevelopmentofso-calledsmartmaterials.Thepropertiesofsmartmaterialsmaybevariedinresponsetoexternalstimuli.Thisopensnewper-spectiveswithrespecttothedevelopmentofcomponentsthatarecapableofreactinginsomemannersoastoim-proveperformanceandreliabilityofstructuralmaterials.Ingeneral,smartmaterialsaredefinedasmaterialsexhibitingbothsensingandactuationability[1].Smartmaterialsin-cludeconventionalshapememoryalloys(SMAs)suchasTiNiorTiPd[2],advancedferromagneticSMAssuchasNi2MnGa[3]orFePd[4]andpiezoelectricceramics,all∗Correspondingauthor.Tel.:+81-6-6963-8155;fax:+81-6-6963-8145.E-mailaddress:mizuuchi@omtri.city.osaka.jp(K.Mizuuchi).ofwhichoffersensingandactuationcapabilitiesunderacombinedloading.ExceptforsomeSMAsandpiezoelec-tricceramics,smartmaterialsarenotpresentinmonolithicformandthusarenecessarytofabricatebyinnovativedesignconcepts.Oneofthedesignconceptsproposedanddevelopedwascompositeutilizingshapememory(SM)effectsofSMAfibers[5–8].Theyieldstressofthecompositefabricatedbasedonthedesignconceptincreaseswithincreasingtem-perature.Thecompositeevidentlypresentssmartness,inthatSMAfibersbehaveasastrainsensorandastrengtheningel-ementforenhancinghigh-temperaturestrength.Incompos-itesreinforcedbySMAfibers,thefibersarepre-deformedatatemperaturebelowMf(martensitefinishtemperature)forrearrangementofmartensitevariantstructure.TheyarethenheatedtoatemperatureaboveAf(austenitefinishtempera-ture)totransformtotheaustenitephasefromthemartensitephase.Duringthistransformation,SMAfiberstendtoshrinkbacktotheirinitiallengthincomposites,resultinginthe0921-5093/$–seefrontmatter©2003ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/j.msea.2003.10.286344K.Mizuuchietal./MaterialsScienceandEngineeringA367(2004)343–349generationofcompressivestressinthematrix.Thisresid-ualcompressivestressinthematrixformedisakeyfactorfortheyieldstressenhancementofthiskindofcompositeathightemperatures.Inourpreviousworks,wehavefabricatedanaluminumalloymatrixcompositereinforcedbyTiNiSMAfiberanddemonstratedsuccessfullytheenhancementoftheyieldstressofthecompositeathightemperatures[9–13].Intheseandotherpreviousstudies[2,3,14,15],vacuumhotpressingtechniquewasused.However,inthecaseofcon-ventionalvacuumhotpressing,thetotalprocessingtimenecessarytofabricateonecompositeplatewasabout10ks.Thismayleadtohighcostfortheproductionofsuchcomposites.Inanattempttofindanotherprocess,pulsedcurrenthotpressing(PCHP)processisusedinthepresentwork.Thisprocessingtechniqueisoneapplicationofpulsedcurrentpressuresintering(PCPS)technique[16–20].ThePCHPtechniqueisconsideredmoreattractivethansparkplasmasintering(SPS)becauseofadecreasingtendencyforcon-taminationdueinparttothelowsurface-to-volumeratiointheplates.ThedetailofthePCHPtechniqueisdescribedbelow.Inthepresentstudy,TiNiSMAfiberreinforcedMgal-loycompositesarefabricatedbyPCHP,wherethecompos-itematrixisAZ31magnesiumalloy.Themagnesiumalloysarebelievedtobepotentialforuseinaerospaceapplica-tionsbecauseofexceptionallylightweightandhighspecificstiffness,althoughthealloysshowsomedrawback,suchas,drasticdecreaseinyieldstressathightemperatures.ThepurposeofthispaperistodescribethePCHPpro-cessandtopresenttheresultsobtainedfromaTiNiSMAfiber/AZ31M