Toray Industries, Inc.

Tohru Hanano

Toshihide Sekido

Tetsuyuki Kyono

Hidetaka Matsumae

Daisaku Akase

Tohru Hotta

Method and apparatus for opening reinforcing fiber bundle and method of

A method for manufacturing a precursor wire for a CFRM material, which comprised a continuous carbon fiber bundle of carbon filaments as a reinforcement and a metal as a matrix. In a pretreatment process, the fiber bundle with a sizing agent adhered thereto is passed through an inert atmosphere at a temperature in the range of from 350.degree. to 800.degree. C., thereby thermally decomposing the sizing agent, the chemical structure of the sizing agent including ether linkages, and a residue of thermal decomposition containing the ether linkages is left on the surface of each single filament. In a chemical vapor deposition process, a material gas containing a titanium compound and a boron compound and a reducing gas containing zinc are caused to act simultaneously on the fiber bundle at a temperature in the range of from 700.degree. to 800.degree. C. after the sizing agent is thermally decomposed, thereby forming a primary layer of oxides of titanium and boron on each of the single filaments, and a surface layer of titanium and boron is formed on the primary layer. The primary layer and the surface layer serve considerably to improve the wettability between the carbon fibers and the matrix metal.

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Kawasaki, Japan

Tohru Hanano