Coefficient of thermal expansion and theoretical compute of carbon fibre reinforced magnesium composites

Aligned short carbon fibre (aligned C _sf) and 2.5D carbon fabric reinforced magnesium alloy composites were fabricated by vacuum infiltration-semisolid extrusion technology. The microstructure of composites were observed, the coefficient of thermal expansion (α) of composites from 30 to 350°C were measured, and the corresponding theory models for predicting the α were modified based on Schapery model. The results show that the α of composites was increased with the temperature increased from 30 to 200°C, however the α of composites was decreased or tended to stability when the temperature exceeded 250°C. The α didn't increased continuously with the temperature increased, which was due to the solubility of aluminum element increased, magnesium alloy occurred plastic deformation; the errors between the theory values of revised model and the experimental values were all less than 5%, which indicated the theory model could predict the α of experimental effectively.