Abstract
We investigated the influence of several processes, including the preparation of slurry and preform and the heat-treatment of the preform, on the properties of composites to fabricate the carbon-fiber reinforced glass composites having good mechanical properties. Cerander was determined to be the best binder among Cerander, Rhoplex and Elvacite 2045 by the dipping test and the binder within a preform could be completely eliminatd by burning out the specimen under 10-6 Torr at 400$^{\circ}C$ for more than 1h. The fracture behavior of a composite was largely dependent on the uniformity of carbon-fiber distribution within the composite and the heat-treatment condition of the composite. The higher the glass content, the more difficult to obtain uniform distribution of carbon-fiber. As the hot-pressing temperature increased, the densification process of the composite and the formation of pore due to oxidation of carbon fiber occurred competitively. But, above 1000$^{\circ}C$ the latter played a predominant role. We could fabricated the densest 15 vol.% carbon-fiber-content glass composite having the highest toughness and flexural strength of 250 MPa by hot-pressing under 15 MPa at 900$^{\circ}C$ for 30 min.