Weavable metal matrix impregnated tow composite material
AssigneeMcDonnell Douglas Corporation
InventorThomas K. Tsotsis
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Abstract
A composite material comprising a flexible jacket covering a roving of fibers which have been impregnated with a metal powder is described. The flexible jacket allows the material to be handled easily and to be weaved, knitted or braided into the shape or form desired. The jacket is made from a thermoplastic which decomposes or is otherwise fugitive during the processing of the woven form in which the metal is melted to consolidate the form into a finished part.
Claims18
A weavable metal matrix impregnated tow composite material comprising a roving of reinforcing fibers impregnated with metal powder and jacketed with a sheath of a continuous layer of thermoplastic material, said weavable metal matrix impregnated tow capable of being consolidated into a fiber-reinforced composite material having a continuous metal matrix, devoid of thermoplastic sheath material.
A weavable metal matrix impregnated tow composite material comprising a fusible metal powder;
- from 55 volume percent to about 70 volume percent of a reinforcing fiber roving, said reinforcing fiber having a melting point above the melting point of said metal powder, said reinforcing fiber roving and said metal powder encased within a sheath of a thermoplastic material which melts or decomposes at a temperature lower than the melting point of said fusible metal powder, wherein said volume percent is the percent by volume within said thermoplastic sheath, said weavable metal matrix impregnated tow capable of being consolidated into a fiber-reinforced composite material having a continuous metal matrix, devoid of thermoplastic sheath material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.