The casting properties of a SiCp/Al composite are analyzed in this paper and the methods for producing complex castings of SiCp/Al composite disk brake together with their difficulty are discussed. An adjustable vacuum pressure casting method is established on the basis of a normal adjustable pressure casting method. The SiCp/Al composite disk brake casting is made with the established method. The results show that the adjustable vacuum pressure casting is a successful casting method for producing SiCp/Al composite castings of large dimensions and complex structures, which gives few defects as confirmed by Xray real- time image system.

Keywords: SiCp/Al composite; disk brake; adjustable vacuum pressure casting