Strengthening behavior and thermal conductivity of Cu/Al composite with penetration architecture

To improve the strength of Al alloys without severely deteriorating the thermal conductivity, the Cu/Al bimetallic composite comprising penetration architecture was artificially designed and fabricated via the additive manufacturing combined with the squeeze casting. The composite exhibited a good balance of the strength (similar to 340 MPa) and thermal conductivity (200 W/(m.K)), outperforming the traditional Al alloys. High thermal conduction is attributed to the geometrical Cu scaffold, which provides a rapid pathway for the electron conduction. Simultaneously, the good metallurgical bonding is attained by the formation of the Al2Cu eutectic phase along the interfaces, which effectively enhances the strength of the Cu/Al composite.