Abstract: 2D cross-ply carbon fiber reinforced aluminum matrix composites were fabricated by extrusion directly following vacuum pressure infiltration. The compressive property and failure mechanism of 2D-C_f/Al composites were investigated at room temperature by applying loadings along different directions with respect to the fiber layer. The results show that the composite with ideal infiltration quality and dense microstructure could be fabricated successfully by extrusion directly following vacuum pressure infiltration the aluminum alloy and fibers are evenly distributed, and seldom defects can be found in composite. The compression yield strength perpendicular to the fiber layer is almost 2.5 times as that parallel to the fiber layer. Further analysis shows that the different properties are caused by different failure mechanisms. When the loading direction is perpendicular to the fiber layer, composites failure is mainly caused by shear fracture. When the loading direction is parallel to the direction of fiber, interface debonding and fiber bending failure are the main failure mechanism.

Key words: 2D crossply C_f/Al composite, compressive property, extrusion directly following vacuum pressure infiltration technique, failure mechanism