A. SUN et al.: PREPARATION OF METAL-FIBER-REINFORCED Al-Si-Cu MATRIX COMPOSITES ...
267–273
PREPARATION OF METAL-FIBER-REINFORCED Al-Si-Cu
MATRIX COMPOSITES IN A VACUUM-SUCTION-CASTING
PROCESS
PRIPRAVA S KOVINSKIMI VLAKNI OJA^ANE Al-Si-Cu MATRICE
IN KOMPOZITOV, IZDELANIH S POSTOPKOM SESALNEGA
LITJA V VAKUUMU
Anna Sun, Tao He
*
, Yuanming Huo, Xingqian Dong, Jing Wang
School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China
Prejem rokopisa – received: 2019-07-23; sprejem za objavo – accepted for publication: 2019-11-04
doi:10.17222/mit.2019.170
Lightweight alloys with high performance have become increasing popular in the world of materials engineering and science. In
order to obtain high strength for an aluminum matrix alloy, the metal fiber in this work was embedded into the Al-Si-Cu matrix
through a vacuum suction casting (VSC) process. Two different metal wires, i.e., copper-coated/copper-uncoated 304 stainless
steel, separately, were used to prepare the Al-Si-Cu matrix composite. A microstructure investigation was conducted to study
the interface reaction between the metal fiber and the matrix. The results show that the copper-coated wire was conducive to a
tight connection for the metal fiber and the matrix, and it can greatly improve the comprehensive properties of the composite.
The copper-coated, metal-fiber-reinforced Al-Si-Cu matrix (CC-Mf/Al) composite was further prepared with a different fiber
diameter. In order to investigate the effect of the fiber diameter on the microstructure and properties, a microstructure
observation of the CC-Mf/Al composite was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Properties testing was
carried out using a P300 electronic universal testing machine, a MHVD-1000IS microhardness tester and a FT300 resistivity
tester. The experimental data indicate that the mechanical properties of the composite increase first and then decrease as the
diameter of the fiber increases. When the diameter of the copper-coated fiber is 0.1 mm, i.e., a volume fraction of 0.17 %, the
tensile strength of the CC-Mf/Al composites reaches a maximum of 341.04 MPa, which is 49.33 % higher than that of the
original aluminum alloy. The elongation and microhardness are 54.24 mm and 129.1 HV, respectively. The resistivity of the
CC-Mf/Al composites is lower than that of the copper-uncoated metal fiber-reinforced Al-Si-Cu aluminum matrix (CU-Mf/Al)
composite.
Keywords: vacuum suction casting, CC-Mf/Al and CU-Mf/Al composite,microstructure, mechanical properties
Visoko kvalitetne lahke Al zlitine postajajo vse bolj popularne na podro~ju in`eniringa in znanosti materialov. Avtorji so zato,
da bi izdelali lahek kompozitni material z visoko trdnostjo, v matrico na osnovi Al-Si-Cu vgradili kovinska vlakna. Za to so
uporabili postopek vakuumskega sesalnega litja (VSC). Za izdelavo kompozita z Al-Si-Cu matrico (CC-Mf/Al) so izbrali dve
razli~ni vrsti kovinskih vlaken in sicer: z bakrom prevle~eno in neprevle~eno jekleno `ico iz nerjavnega jekla tipa 304. Izvedli
so mikrostrukturne preiskave in {tudirali reakcije na meji med kovinskimi vlakni in matrico. Rezultati so pokazali, da je matrica,
ki vsebuje z bakrom prevle~ena vlakna, v celoti prevodna, kar je mo~no izbolj{alo lastnosti kompozita. Nadalje so izdelovali {e
CC-Mf/Al kompozite, oja~ane z jeklenimi vlakni razli~ne debeline. Vpliv debeline vlaken na mikrostrukturo in lastnosti
CC-Mf/Al so analizirali z vrsti~nim elektronskim mikroskopom (SEM). Mehanske lastnosti kompozitov so dolo~ili s pomo~jo
elektronskega univerzalnega trgalnega stroja P300. Trdoto kompozitov so dolo~ili na merilniku mikrotrdote MHVD-1000IS in
prevodnost na merilniku upornosti FT300. Eksperimentalni rezultati ka`ejo, da se mehanske lastnosti kompozita izbolj{ujejo
najprej, ko premer vlaken raste (do 0,1 mm), in nato za~nejo padati, ko premer raste od 0,1 mm do 0,25 mm. Pri premeru z
bakrom prevle~enih vlaken 0,1 mm je njihov volumski dele` 0,17 % in CC-Mf/Al kompozit ima takrat maksimalno trdnost
341,04 MPa, kar je za 49,33 % vi{ja trdnost kot jo ima originalna Al zlitina. Raztezek in mikrotrdota sta 54,24 mm in 129,1 HV.
Upornost CC-Mf/Al kompozitov, ki vsebujejo z bakrom opla{~ena vlakna, je ni`ja od tistih, ki vsebujejo neopla{~ena jeklena
vlakna.
Klju~ne besede: vakuumsko sesalno litje, CC-Mf/Al in CU-Mf/Al kompoziti, mikrostruktura, mehanske lastnosti
1 INTRODUCTION
The Al-Si-Cu alloy is widely used due to its excellent
castability, high specific strength, ductility, and corrosion
resistance as well as a low density and a small coefficient
of linear expansion. However, it is still difficult to meet
the requirements of modern mechanical structural parts
for conventional Al-Si-Cu alloys. It is necessary to
further improve the performance of the Al-Si-Cu alloy.
1–4
A metal fiber was proved to further improve the per-
formance of conventional Al-Si-Cu alloys. A composite
material is called fiber-reinforced aluminum matrix
composite, prepared by inserting the metal fiber as a
reinforcing phase into the matrix phase of an aluminum
alloy.
5–7
The prepared composites hold the specific
properties of light weight and high strength, which is
suitable for manufacturing the special parts in the
automotive, aerospace, rail transit, et al.
8,9
At present, the preparation of metal-fiber-reinforced
composite materials attracts the attention of many
researchers. W. Tao et al.
10
proposed that the continuous
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 54 (2020) 2, 267–273 267
UDK 620.1:67.017:621.867.81:621.7.073 ISSN 1580-2949
Original scientific article/Izvirni znanstveni ~lanek MTAEC9, 54(2)267(2020)
*Corresponding author's e-mail:
hetao@sues.edu.cn (He Tao)

long fibers, such as carbon (graphite) fiber, SiC fiber,
Al
2
O
3
fiber, and stainless steel wire, have been applied to
aluminum matrix composites, resulting in an improve-
ment of its tensile strength. L. Youfeng et al.
11
believed
that the transverse elastoplastic properties and shear
elastoplastic properties with the increase of fiber volume
content. M. Xiaobin et al.
12
found that the tensile
strength and elastic modulus of continuous carbon-
fiber-reinforced aluminum-matrix composites were
significantly higher than that of the general metal matrix.
B. L. Dasari et al.
5
found that the strength, hardness, and
ductility were greatly improved for the prepared
graphene-reinforced aluminum matrix composites with
different volume fractions. When preparing the TiNi/Al
composites, Y.g Shengnan et al.
13
found that the
quasi-static tensile mechanical properties increased with
the increase of the volume fraction of TiNi fibers.
The VSC technique was used to prepare the
metal-fiber-reinforced Al-Si-Cu composites in this work.
The VSC process is a casting process based on the
self-gravity and the pressure difference between the
melting chamber and the suction casting chamber to
complete the filling operation of the alloy liquid and
solidify under the low-pressure and vacuum state.
14
By
using the VSC process, the molten fluid of the Al-Si-Cu
alloy was prone to enter the cavity of the copper mold
for preparing the metal-fiber-reinforced Al-Si-Cu
composites, such that the interface between the fiber and
the matrix has relatively few micro-holes. It provides a
basic guarantee to improve the performance of the
composite material.
Some researchers published many scientific articles
on VSC. Z. Szklarz et al.
15
improved the microstructure
of the casting, i.e., refining the grains, and increasing the
hardness and strength of the material, by the VSC
process. L.F. Qi et al.
16
prepared carbon-fiber composites
using vacuum infiltration extrusion (LSEVI). The results
showed that the 2D-C
f
/Al composites have a tensile
strength of 112.5 % higher than that of the matrix.
Reference
17
shows the method of copper coating on the
surface of the fiber can contribute to controlling the
wettability and interfacial reaction between the fiber and
the liquid metal. B. B. Singh
18
investigated the strength
improvement of the aluminum matrix alloy using
Cu-coated carbon fiber and the addition of Mg. It was
found that the wettability of the carbon fiber and the
matrix was improved without using an interfacial
reaction investigated the strength improvement of the
aluminum matrix alloy. This indicates that copper coated
on the surface of the fiber can improve the performance
of the composite. However, most researches focused on
the effect of short nonmetallic fibers on the reinforced
quality of the Al-Si-Cu matrix composite. It is difficult
to find the application of long metal fibers, especially
304 stainless steel, in the preparation of the fiber-rein-
forced Al-Si-Cu matrix composites.
This work aims to prepare fiber-reinforced Al-Si-Cu
matrix composites using long metal fibers of 304
stainless steel. Firstly, the CC-M
f
/Al and CU-M
f
/Al com-
posites were prepared by the VSC method, whose
microstructure and mechanical properties were com-
pared and analyzed. Secondly, CC-M
f
/Al /CU-M
f
/Al
composites were prepared using different diameters of
304 metal fiber. And then, the effect of the diameter of
the metal fiber on the comprehensive mechanical pro-
perties and electrical resistivity of the CC-M
f
/Al
/CU-M
f
/Al composites were discussed. Finally, some
conclusions can be drawn.
2 EXPERIMENTAL PART
2.1 Materials preparations
The high-purity particles of 99.99 % Al, 99.95 % Si,
and 99.99 % Cu were used as the raw materials in this
experiment. The chemical composition mass fraction is
shown in Table 1. The 304 stainless-steel wire was
selected as the metal fiber, and the length of the metal
fiber is 90 mm. Figure 1 shows a micrograph of the
copper-uncoated fiber and copper-coated fiber of 304
stainless steel, and the thickness of the copper-coated
fiber is about 2 μm. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram
of the VSC in this experiment.
A. SUN et al.: PREPARATION OF METAL-FIBER-REINFORCED Al-Si-Cu MATRIX COMPOSITES ...
268 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 54 (2020) 2, 267–273
Figure 1: Fiber surface topography of: a) copper-uncoated fiber,
b) copper-coated fiber

The experimental procedure consists of three steps.
First, the metal fibers were fixed in the copper mold. The
raw materials were cleaned using an ultrasonic oscillator.
The decontaminated raw materials were placed in a
desiccator for drying. Second, the raw materials were
smelted and uniformly stirred in a high-vacuum arc-
melting chamber. Finally, the alloy liquid entered the
copper mold under the effect of internal pressure diffe-
rence and self-gravity. The prepared samples of CC-M
f
/Al
or CU-M
f
/Al composites are shown in Figure 3.
Table 1: Al-Si-Cu alloy chemical composition (mass fraction, w/%)
Element Al Si Cu Mg
w/% Balance 4.5–5.5 1.0–1.5 0.4–0.55
A series of samples of CC-M
f
/Al and CU-M
f
/Al
composites were prepared using VSC by changing the
diameter of the metal fibers. The detailed diameter was
selected as 0.06 mm, 0.08 mm, 0.1 mm, 0.15 mm, 0.2
mm, and 0.25 mm. The influence of the different process
parameters on the microstructure, mechanical properties
and electrical conductivity of the Al-Si-Cu matrix com-
posites were investigated as below.
2.2 Composites treatment after preparation
The prepared composite samples were heat treated
using a SX2-5-12N box-type resistance furnace in two
stages: Stage 1: solution treatment at 525 °C×8h+
60 °C water quenching; Stage 2: aging treatment 160 °C
×4h+aircooling. After the heat treatment, the samples
were machined into standard tensile-test pieces (Fig-
ure 4) using the DK7632 type slow wire cutting
machine. The tensile tests were conducted following the
ASTM: E8M standard. All the specimens were gradually
ground using waterproof abrasive paper from coarse to
fine, and then polished on the MP-2B double-disc
stepless grinding and polishing machine. The etching of
specimens was carried out at room temperature using an
acid solution of 5 mL HNO
3
+2mLHF+3mLHCl+
190 mL H
2
O.
2.3 Properties test and microstructure observation
The tensile tests were carried out at a speed of 2
mm/min on a P300 electronic universal testing machine.
The hardness tests were carried out on a (9×9×15) mm
test piece in an MHVD-1000IS-type hardness tester.
Each test piece was measured five times in a symmetrical
position, and the average value was recorded. The
resistivity test of the specimens using a four-terminal
measurement method on an FT300 type resistivity tester.
The average value was obtained from three measure-
ments. The microstructures of the composites samples
were observed using a SU8070 scanning electron micro-
scope (SEM).
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Effect of copper coating on the interface micro-
structure of the metal fiber
Figure 5 shows the microstructure and EDS analysis
of the copper-uncoated fiber composites material and the
copper-coated fiber composites material. Figure 5a
shows a 1000-times microstructure of a CU-M
f
/Al com-
posite. It can be seen that there are many microporosities
between the interface of the metal fiber and matrix. And,
eutectic silicon exists around the fiber, the grain size is
between 2.3 μm and 3.2 μm. The eutectic silicon was
A. SUN et al.: PREPARATION OF METAL-FIBER-REINFORCED Al-Si-Cu MATRIX COMPOSITES ...
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 54 (2020) 2, 267–273 269
Figure 4: Standard tensile-test pieces
Figure 2: Schematic diagram of vacuum-suction casting
Figure 3: The prepared samples of CC-M
f
/Al and CU-M
f
/Al compo-
sites

A. SUN et al.: PREPARATION OF METAL-FIBER-REINFORCED Al-Si-Cu MATRIX COMPOSITES ...
270 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 54 (2020) 2, 267–273
Figure 6: a) microstructure of fiber-reinforced Al-Si-Cu matrix composites,1000 times, b) microstructure of fiber-reinforced Al-Si-Cu matrix
composites, 2000 times, c) eutectic silicon microstructure, d) EDS diagram
Figure 5: a) microstructure of copper-uncoated fiber composites, b) microstructure of copper-coated fiber composites, c) EDS analysis of
copper-uncoated fiber 304 stainless steel, d) EDS analysis of Al-Si-Cu matrix (1– solid solution + Al
2
Cu strengthening phase; 2–eutectic
silicon; 3–copper-uncoated fiber; 4–copper-coated fiber; 5–copper sheet; 6–microporosity; 7–grain boundaries; 8–shrinkage cavity and porosity)

mainly found along the grain boundary. And, the density
of eutectic silicon is relatively higher around the metal
fibers than the other areas. These particles of eutectic
silicon can leads to stress concentrations near the fiber
during the tension test. Figure 5 c) shows the copper-
uncoated fiber EDS analysis in Figure 5a. It is clear that
the Fe content in the fiber is much higher than the other
elements. Figure 5b shows the microstructure of a
CC-M
f
/Al composite. The surface of the copper-coated
fiber is in the molten state during the preparation pro-
cess, so that the fiber and the matrix are well combined.
The copper surface of the fiber surface compensates for
the gap between the metal fiber and the matrix, the
eutectic silicon is uniformly dispersed in the  solid
solution, the grain size is between 2.7 μm and 5.3 μm,
and there is some discontinuous microporosity at the
interface between the fiber and the matrix. Figure 5d
shows the Al-Si-Cu matrix EDS analysis in Figure 5b.It
is clear that the matrix is mostly Al and Cu.
Figure 6 shows the microstructure of the fiber-rein-
forced Al-Si-Cu matrix composites. Figure 6a shows
1000-times magnification of the microstructure of the
fiber-reinforced Al-Si-Cu matrix composites. It can be
seen from Figure 6a that tiny columnar crystals were
formed in the solidification of the castings, and it
distributes in rows. The eutectic silicon is mostly located
in the grain boundary, and the average width of the
eutectic silicon is 2.3–5.7 μm. Since the number of grain
boundaries is large and the area of each grain boundary
is small, it helps to improve the mechanical properties of
the prepared composite.
19
Figure 6b shows the
2000-times local magnifying microstructure of the
Al-Si-Cu matrix composites. The eutectic silicon is
irregular or short rod-shaped, and is composed of  -Si
solid crystals and distributed in the grain boundary. At
the same time, the  (Al
2
Cu) equivalent strengthening
phase is solid-dissolved in the  matrix, so no
strengthening phase is observed in the microstructure of
the composites. It can be seen in figure 6c and figure 6d
a magnified view of the microstructure of the local
eutectic silicon and EDS spectrum analysis. The short
rod-like eutectic silicon is distributed in the  solid
solution, which is a good strengthening of the matrix.
3.2 Effect of different metal fiber diameters on the
mechanical properties of the composites
Figure 7 shows the effect of different metal fiber
diameters of copper-coated and copper-uncoated fibers
on the tensile strength, elongation and microhardness of
the Al-Si-Cu matrix composites. The addition of fibers in
the composites will result in a reinforcing phase/matrix
interface, so the interfacial bonding strength will directly
affect the properties of the composites.
20
It can be seen
from Figure 7a the effect of different metal fiber
diameters on the tensile strength of Al-Si-Cu matrix
composites. When the diameter of the metal fiber is
between 0.05 mm and 0.15 mm, that is, the volume
fraction of the metal fiber is 0.06 % to 0.17 %, the tensile
strength of the Al-Si-Cu matrix composites increases
first and then decreases with an increase of the diameter
of the metal fiber. When the diameter is between 0.15
mm and 0.25 mm, i.e., the volume fraction of the metal
fiber is 0.17 % to 1.2 %, it also increases first and then
decreases gradually with the increase of the diameter of
the metal fiber. When the diameter of the copper-coated
fiber is 0.1 mm, and the volume fraction of the metal
fiber is 0.17 %, the tensile strength of CC-M
f
/Al com-
posites is 341.04 MPa, which is higher than the tensile
strength of 228.38 MPa for the pure matrix Al-Si-Cu
alloy of about 49.33 %. Moreover, the tensile strength of
the CC-M
f
/Al composites is higher than that of the
CU-M
f
/Al composites about 9.04–32.92 %.
A. SUN et al.: PREPARATION OF METAL-FIBER-REINFORCED Al-Si-Cu MATRIX COMPOSITES ...
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 54 (2020) 2, 267–273 271
Figure 7: Effect of different metal-fiber diameters of the composites
on: a) tensile strength, b) elongation, c) hardness value

It can be seen from Figure 7b that the effect of
different metal-fiber diameters on the elongation of
Al-Si-Cu matrix composites. When the diameter of the
metal fiber is between 0.05 mm and 0.15 mm, the elon-
gation of the Al-Si-Cu matrix composite increases first
and then decreases with the increase of the metal-fiber
diameter. When the diameter is between 0.15 mm and
0.25 mm, the elongation always increases. When the
diameter of the copper-coated fiber is 0.1 mm, i.e., the
volume fraction of the metal fiber is 0.17 %, the
elongation is 54.24 mm, which is higher than that of the
pure matrix Al-Si-Cu alloy of about 43.3 %. Moreover,
the elongation of the surface of the CC-M
f
/Al composites
material is generally higher than that of the CU-M
f
/Al
composites material.
It can be seen from Figure 7c the effect of different
metal fiber diameters on the microhardness of Al-Si-Cu
matrix composites. As the diameter of the copper-coated
metal fiber increases, the microhardness of CC-M
f
/Al
composites increases first and then decreases. The
microhardness of the copper-coated fiber is up to 129.1
HV, and the microhardness of the Al-Si-Cu alloy matrix
is 77.51 HV, so the microhardness is improved by about
66.56 % compared with the Al-Si-Cu alloy matrix. As
the diameter of the copper-uncoated metal fiber in-
creases, the microhardness of the CU-M
f
/Al composites
appeared with two peak states, i.e., 91.37 HV and 88.96
HV. The microhardness of the CC-M
f
/Al composites is
higher than that of the CU-M
f
/Al composites by about
8.18–78 %.
The reason for the above phenomenon was that when
the fiber diameter is less than 0.1 mm, copper coated on
the surface of the fiber can eliminate the microporosity
between the fiber and the matrix. However, when the
fiber diameter is larger than 0.1 mm, as the fiber dia-
meter increases, the gap between the fiber and the matrix
becomes increasingly larger, and the copper-coated on
the surface of the fiber is not enough to fill the gap
between the fiber and the matrix, so the mechanical
properties first increase and then decrease.
3.3 Effect of different metal Fiber diameters on the re-
sistivity of the composites
Figure 8 shows the effect of different metal fiber
diameters on the resistivity of CC-M
f
/Al and CU-M
f
/Al
composites. As we can see from Figure 8, the resistivity
of the Al-Si-Cu matrix composites increases first and
then decreases with an increase of the diameter of the
metal fiber. When the fiber diameter is less than 0.09
mm, the resistivity of the CC-M
f
/Al composites material
is higher than that of the CU-M
f
/Al composites material.
When the diameter of the metal fiber is greater than 0.09
mm, the resistivity of the CU-M
f
/Al composites material
is higher than that of the CC-M
f
/Al composites material.
With the fiber diameter increases, the metal fiber on the
relative distribution area in the matrix increases, the
bonding interface between the metal fiber and matrix
increases. Therefore, the gap between the metal fiber and
the matrix is continuously increased, eventually resulting
in a large electrical resistivity. When the diameter of the
copper-uncoated fiber is 0.2 mm, the maximum resist-
ivity is 28.2 μ ·mm. When the diameter of the
copper-coated fiber is 0.09 mm, the maximum resistivity
is 25.9 μ ·mm.
The reason for the above phenomenon is that the
resistivity of the matrix element Fe is greater than that of
the Al element. As the fiber diameter increases, the
volume fraction of the 304 stainless steel wire inside the
composite increases, which causes an increase of the Fe
content. When the diameter of the metal fiber is small,
the microporosity between the metal fiber and matrix is
relatively small, so the Al element plays a dominant role
in the local area. When the metal fiber diameter is large,
the microporosity between the metal fiber and matrix is
relatively large, so the Fe plays a leading role in the local
area. Therefore, as the diameter of the metal fiber in-
creases, the resistivity increases first and then decreases.
4 CONCLUSIONS
1) CC-M
f
/Al composites rarely had microporosity
between the copper-coated metal fiber and the matrix,
and the eutectic silicon is uniformly distributed in the  solid-solution body. However, the CU-M
f
/Al composites
had microporosity between the copper-uncoated metal
fiber and the matrix, and the eutectic silicon is densely
distributed in the vicinity of the fiber, which causes
stress concentration near the fiber during the tension test,
and a decrease of the mechanical properties. Overall,
copper-coated on the surface of the metal fiber can
greatly improve the interfacial bonding strength between
the metal fiber and the Al-Si-Cu matrix.
A. SUN et al.: PREPARATION OF METAL-FIBER-REINFORCED Al-Si-Cu MATRIX COMPOSITES ...
272 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 54 (2020) 2, 267–273
Figure 8: Effect of different metal-fiber diameters on the electrical
conductivity of composites

2) The mechanical properties of the CC-M
f
/Al com-
posites are much better than that of the CU-M
f
/Al
composites. When the diameter of the fiber increases, the
mechanical properties of the composite material first
increase and then decrease. When the diameter of the
copper-coated fiber is 0.1 mm, i.e., the volume fraction
of the metal fiber is 0.17 %, the tensile strength of the
CC-M
f
/Al composites reaches a maximum of 341.04
MPa, and the microhardness of the CC-M
f
/Al composites
reaches a maximum value of 129.1 HV. The elongation
of the CC-M
f
/Al composites reaches a maximum of
54.24 mm.
3) The resistivity of the CC-M
f
/Al composite is much
smaller than that of the CU-M
f
/Al composites, and the
resistivity of the Al-Si-Cu matrix composites increases
first and then decreases with an increase of the diameter
of the metal fiber. When the diameter of the
copper-uncoated fiber is 0.2 mm, the resistivity reaches a
maximum of 27.1 u ·mm.
Acknowledgements
This project is funded by National Key Research and
Development Program of China (Grant No.
2018YFB1307900), Key Research Program of Shanghai
Science and Technology Commission (Grant No.
16030501200), National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grant No. 51805314) and Shanghai University of
Engineering and Science (Grant No. E3-0501-
18-01002). The Robot Functional Materials Preparation
Laboratory in Shanghai University of Engineering
Science is also gratefully acknowledged.
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