Abstract
A concurrent fibre winding and low pressure plasma spraying (LPPS) process has been developed to manufacture multiple fibre reinforced titanium matrix composite (TMC) rings in a single spraying operation. Optimisation of the LPPS parameters has been successively performed for two different sizes of Ti-6Al-4V powders by experimental design and statistical analysis, which provided minimum porosity and surface roughness for both powders. The most important LPPS parameters affecting porosity and surface roughness of deposits were Ar gas flow rate and chamber pressure. During TMC manufacture, the coarse Ti-6Al-4V powder spraying provided enhanced infiltration between fibres but caused degradation of fibre tensile strength, as well as a rough ring surface. The fine Ti-6Al-4V powder gave no significant degradation of fibre strength and a relatively smooth ring surface. Four-ply SiC fibre reinforced TMCs manufactured by the spray-wind process have also been evaluated in terms of porosity, fibre distribution and fibre damage.